D&D Tag Along
by Tint
Summary: A teenager is brought into the D&D world and is recruited by a band of adventurers. He tells their tale through his veiw.
1. Welcome to the Group

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 1: Welcome to the Group_

_A/N: This will be the second attempt at posting this fic. I tried once before, but this fic was removed because someone didn't like the fact I attempted to be creative with a story inspired by a freeware movie. I've changed it quite a bit since then. I know that some of the characters are stereotypical D&D roles. Hopefully I changed it enough for everyone's liking._

_This is a story about a modern age teen, who is brought back in time to the age of when Dungeons and Dragons would have taken place. I know that it is a familiar, if not overused, theme. Hopefully this fic will prove to be a worthwhile exercise. This teen tags along with a band of adventurers and tells their story through his perspective. Please read and review. I accept anonymous reviews._

_There may be some language or violent situations that occur throughout this fic. Please tell me if I have given this the proper rating._

_Legal disclaimer: This applies to the entire fic. Although I do play D&D I do not own it. This disclaimer also applies to anything that I make reference to in this fic._

Regular speech is regular text, _thoughts are italicized._

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**"For **the last time, I will not allow that in my campaign." I was growing tired of this constant complaining.

"Come on Tint! You let Joey create a Teifling for a character." A guy sitting across the table from me argued.

Let me explain some things about myself. I am a DM, and a pretty damn good one at that. I am currently seventeen years of age and am in my final year of high school. Because of my good looks, you wouldn't expect me to be a nerd, but I am. I play hockey at the high school level and because of that am in pretty good shape. Last year I set a league record for penalty minutes. The coach keeps me on the team because I stick up for the tinier players on our team.

If you are wondering, Tint is only my nickname. I got that name because I wear a tinted visor on my hockey helmet. My real name is of no importance. I don't really fit in with any particular group. You wouldn't expect a hockey player to play Dungeons and Dragons. I don't touch drugs and I drink just a tiny bit on good occasions. Overall, I am a pretty popular guy and have decent luck with the girls.

"I know that I allowed Joey to be a Teifling, but you want to be a Mindflayer Lich! One by itself would be a god character. The two combined forms an indestructible force." I tried to explain to the guy.

"I want to cast Magic Missile!" A girl called out. The comedian of the group. Everyone began laughing at the joke but I shook my head.

This group was a very uneducated bunch. They were all 'kick down the door and kill' style of players. Not a single one of them wanted to do anything other than kill everything they were faced with. At the mention of a character they were ready to rush into battle. One day I inserted a Nymph into the fray. A bunch of level twos against a Nymph. They lasted three turns.

"Look guys. The main point of this game is to role-play. I bet half of you don't even know what your characters are." I offered a challenge to the players. The look of embarrassment was enough of an answer for me. "This session is over." I announced and began collecting my books.

We had gathered in the public library for our regular weekly playing session. I had gotten used to the laughter of the punks who judged us. They thought that they were so cool with their skateboards and cigarettes. Quite often they would try to steal our dice, just to be pains in the ass. Today was no different.

I had walked out the front door and turned down the alleyway that ran besides the building. I was about half way down the alley when I noticed that the opposite end had been blocked off by these punks. I turned around to return the way I had come. Approaching me was a second group of punks. In total, I counted seven of them.

"What do you want this time?" I asked the guy who I knew was their leader.

The leader gave me a sneer. "It's time to put the nerd in his place." He announced. For the first time I noticed the knife in his right hand.

This wasn't too far out of the ordinary where I this town. Instead of gang wars our town had a running conflict of nerds against the drugged up punks. Strange little town I lived in. Usually the fights involved nothing more than fist fights. This was an exception. The nerds actually managed to hold their own quite often. It was because we all collected medieval weaponry and knew how to use them.

But here, I was unarmed and seriously outnumbered. I rolled up my sleeves and wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead. I was going to have to use my hockey fighting skills. "How many morons does it take to beat me? Eight and you've only got seven." I joked.

"Why you insolent geek! How dare you!" One of the punks rushed forward and began swinging wild punches. I ducked beneath his swings and bounced back up with an upper cut straight to his jaw. He was soon lying on the ground in an unconscious heap.

The others looked surprised when they saw their fallen comrade. They had encircled me and were carefully moving inwards. I waited for one of them to make a move. I didn't have to wait long because another guy had rushed forward.

I ran towards the guy and delivered a quick punch to his gut. He doubled over in pain, falling to his knees. I reached behind him and grabbed the edge of his shirt, pulling it over his head. A noise behind me alerted me of a guy trying to sneak up on me. I sent a blind kick backwards and was rewarded when it struck somebody. I focused my attention back on the guy who had been jerseyed. I grabbed his head and slammed it into my knee.

"_Three down, four remaining." _I thought to myself as I watched the still conscious punks gather together for a quick strategy meeting. I never did mention that I had studied the martial arts and had received two black belts, one in karate and a second in jujitsu. Combine this with my street brawling skills and hockey fight experience. I'm sure this was coming as a surprise for my opponents.

I was ready for anything they were planning. "_They will probably all come rushing at me and try to overwhelm me._" I concluded as they broke up from their little meeting. Then I felt a sudden twinge of pain coming from my gut.

Maybe I wasn't ready for everything. The leader had caught me off guard and threw the knife at me. I was expecting them to rush forward, not using projectile weapons. I clutched my stomach as I collapsed against a nearby wall. They were encircling me, ready to finish me off.

I could hear a siren off in the distance. The punks looked at each other in surprise before booking it away from the sound. A second siren sounded from the opposite direction of the first one. From what I could hear, the punks were surrounded by the police. I managed a smile as I could hear the police yelling at the punks to surrender.

A face appeared in front of me. It belonged to a police officer. "This one's hurt pretty badly! Call an ambulance!" He called out. That's when I blacked out.

**I **awoke quite a bit later, finding myself propped up in a hospital bed. There were a couple of police officers waiting at the bedside. "So the guy made it through." One officer commented.

I tried to sit up but one of the officers held me down. "Don't push yourself too hard. That's a pretty nasty wound you've got there on your gut. Lucky for you that we arrived when we did." The officer stated.

He was right. A long scar ran across my stomach where the blade had embedded itself. I looked up when the first officer began speaking. "You did quite well against those odds. We received an anonymous hint about a fight that was shaping up where you were. We thought that it would've been a battle of a larger scale."

The second officer chuckled. "We looked into your history. Two black belts, enforcer for the Sabers hockey team, and a prominent figure in these conflicts. No wonder they wanted to get rid of you."

I smiled. "Am I in any trouble?" I asked.

The officers shook their heads. "Nope, we consider your actions self defense. Don't worry about it. The police force is cheering for you guys to win." The other officer nudged his partner slightly. "We best be taking our leave. Good luck on your recovery." With that the officers left the tiny hospital room.

I picked up the remote control for the tiny television that was hanging on the ceiling above my bed. I pressed the ON button. The tiny screen flickered to life. It was the evening news. Unfortunately, it was the only channel in the entire town, so I had to settle with it.

"_Tonight we bring you an update on the conflict between the teenagers of this town. Earlier today, a brawl broke out on the alley between twentieth and nineteenth avenues. Police arrived at the scene and took all participants into custody. One teenager, it is unclear what group he belongs to, was taken to hospital for treatment for a knife wound. We will bring you any news on this situation when we receive it._"

I turned the TV off and relaxed. "You fought really well back there." A female voice commented from the doorway. I turned my head to look at the visitor and was struck breathless by what I saw.

She was about my age, with long blond hair that extended well below her shoulders. Gorgeous blue eyes that sparkled with a hint of a mischievous spirit. An absolutely stunning body that would make any man stop and stare. I tried to say something, but the words came out sounding more like a stammering idiot.

"Let me do all the talking." She said with a smile. "My name is Deanna. I have been watching you for the past few weeks. I think that you have what me and my partners are looking for. Go home and collect your best weapons. Meet me at the library before sunrise." With that she was gone.

I was left to ponder what she had said. "_Stay here and recover or do what the hot chick said. Hot chick wins._" I quickly reached a decision that would change my life in ways that I never could have expected.

I called a nurse into my room. I asked her if I could check myself out. She said no, I hadn't recovered enough to be released. That left me with one option, sneaking out.

**The **clock beside my bed gave off a faint red glow. The numbers told me that the time was one o'clock in the morning. The hospital staff had mostly left for the night. The only ones remaining were some janitors, a security guard or two, and the night emergency crew.

I quietly slipped out of bed and over towards the door. The hallway was empty, with only the faint hum of a life support machine from a nearby room. There was a security camera positioned at the far end of the hall. A little green light on the camera told me that it was active.

I waited for the camera to rotate away from me before making a hurried scamper to a waiting area. The camera couldn't spot me here. I looked out a window that overlooked the courtyard. I found myself counting the number of windows to discover that I was located on the tenth floor.

There was a staircase opposing the waiting area. I would have to cross the path of the camera once again in order to reach it. I silently waited for a few seconds before dashing to the stairwell. A faint light illuminated every floor's landing. I stealthily made my way down to the main floor.

I pushed the door open a crack, allowing me a glance at the main lobby. I could spot the glow of a guard's flashlight as it swept across the floor. His back was turned to the stairs so I took the opportunity to sneak behind the main desk. The front door was probably locked. There was a switch located on the wall that opened the emergency door for the ambulance. It would alert the guards and staff that there was someone inside, but it would give me access out into the open world.

I reached up and toggled the switch. The large garage door began to slowly raise itself, making a horrendously loud noise at it did. Suddenly, I was covered with a bright beam of light from the guard's flashlight. "What do we have here? Show me your hands and walk out into the open." The guard ordered.

He had a gun trained on me. I decided that it would be best if I listened to what he said. I raised my hands into the air and slowly moved out from behind the desk. The guard went back to the desk and pressed the switch to lower the door. I saw my chance. Before the guard could do anything, I ran over to the door and slid beneath it just as it closed.

I made a mad dash across the courtyard. The door was opening beck up behind me and chances were the guard was calling for backup. I arrived at the road that ran in front of the hospital. There was no traffic at this time of day, so I had a clear path to the residential buildings on the other side of the road.

My house was about eight blocks away from the hospital. I found myself running beneath the street lights. Sirens were sounding from nearly every direction. Apparently the police had been alerted of my escapade. A squad car turned round a corner and headed in my direction. I had just enough time to duck beneath a tree in the person yard. The car passed by and I continued my trek towards my house.

It was about a half hour later when I arrived at my destination. My family was out of town for the week and had left me a spare key underneath the welcome mat. I retrieved the key and let myself inside. To my surprise, the telephone was ringing.

I made my way over to the phone and picked up the receiver. "What do you want at this time in the morning?" I asked, attempting to sound extremely tired.

"Good." The voice on the other end stated. I couldn't determine anything about the person on the other end. The voice was all muffled. "You got out of the hospital. Now hurry up and collect your weapons. You have less than three hours until sunrise." The person on the other end was hung up, leaving me with silence.

They were right. The clock on my wall stated that the time was currently three o'clock. It was the middle of summer and the sun rose at a very early time. I made my way towards my room, where I kept my collection.

I opened up the door to my room and entered. I flicked on the light and looked over my collection. "Let me see… Seventy eight swords… Two hundred knives… Five axes…" It was a fairly impressive collection although nearly every piece was a display item only.

The first thing I did was slip on my chain mail shirt. I covered it up with a bulky sweater. I quickly selected an assortment of knives, ten in total. I placed them in a sash and slipped it over my head. Next, I took a small battle axe and slipped it into my belt. Then I grabbed a katana and hooked it onto the belt on the opposite side compared to the axe. Toping the weaponry off, I grabbed a long sword and attached the scabbard behind my belt.

The phone began ringing, the sound filtering itself down towards my room. I quickly shut the light off and slammed the door behind me. I rushed down the hallway and picked up the phone. "What do I need these weapons for?" I asked.

The person on the other end was laughing. "Don't ask questions. I will explain everything to you once you reach the library. By the way, nice touch with the chain mail." Once again, I was left in silence, confused as to what exactly was happening.

I was just about to head out the front door when I saw the red and blue lights in front of the house. Two officers were approaching the door. One reached forward and pressed the doorbell. The sound echoed through the house. "Open up this door! We know that you are here!" One cop announced.

I didn't listen to him. I was already heading out the back door. "Let's check around back!" I could hear an officer say. Their flashlights peaked around the corner of the house. I had one chance to escape them. I headed towards the fence and quickly scaled over top of it, descending into the neighbor's yard.

"_Why are they so interested in me?_" I thought to myself as I crossed the yard. I could hear a loud bang come my house. They had taken a battering ram to the door and were now inside, searching.

The library was located right in the middle of town. Surrounded by neon lights for bars and twenty four hour convenience stores. At every street I had to duck into cover because of a squad car passing by. There was one house that I was sneaking past. I was about to run past when I heard voices. "Sorry to wake you, Madam. We just are telling everyone in the neighborhood that there is a crazed lunatic on the loose. He is considered armed and very dangerous."

I looked around the corner and saw two police officers informing an elderly woman about the danger. "_I thought that the police were on my side._" The squad car silently pulled ahead to the next house.

I had made it to the edge of the business district, which ran along the train tracks that went through town. That meant that I only had four blocks remaining. This part was going to prove to be very difficult. There was only one alleyway and it was still considered a crime scene from the fight. Every building was illuminated by bright signs proclaiming 'Buy one, get one FREE!', 'Eat at BP's!', and 'Open 24/7'.

A loud horn blaring caught me by surprise. A train was making its way into town. To top it off, it was headed in the direction that I needed to travel. I hurriedly approached the train and waited. It was slowing down, as if it was inviting me to jump on. I grabbed hold of a ladder and climbed aboard.

I counted the floor clocks and jumped off the moving train. I managed to stay on my feet, propelling me towards the library. It was smooth sailing from then on. The street lights on this street never were working, which meant that I had the cover of night. I arrived at the front doors of the library, panting from the exercise that I had gotten.

"You're early." A voice commented from the shadows of the building. "The sun will not be rising for another twenty minutes."

I could make out Deana's figure even among the darkness. "I'm here. Now tell me what this is all about." I demanded.

"Come into the shadows more. You may be seen where you are standing." Deanna ordered. "Now for your explanation. Have you ever seen the anime _Inuyasha_?"

"I've seen it a few times." I replied.

"Good, then you will have some idea what I am talking about. Do you know how Kagome travels back to Feudal Japan?" Deanna asked.

"I came here for answers, not to be asked questions!" I stated angrily.

Deanna chuckled. "So you have. Just answer the question."

"Fine. She travels back in time through that well that is located on the temple grounds. What does that have to do with anything?" I inquired.

"It has everything to do with everything." Deanna replied. "Follow me." She ordered as she began heading towards the alleyway. I hesitated momentarily before following after her. This was turning out to be one confusing night.

Deanna stopped in front of a large dumpster. "This is the reason why those goons attacked you today. They thought that you were heading for this."

"But there is nothing here!" I protested.

"That is only to your untrained eye. Watch." She commanded as she stepped up beside the dumpster. She placed her hands against the dumpster and pushed the object aside. Located beneath where the dumpster had been was a trap door. Deanna bent over and tugged the door open. All that I could see was a ladder descending into the darkness. "Go ahead in." She ordered.

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me that passageway leads to some other time?" I asked in disbelief. Judging from the look on Deanna's face she was serious. "If what you say is true, then why do you want me?"

Deanna looked up towards the horizon. The sun was just beginning to show a sliver of light. "We don't have much time left. Just go inside and I will explain on the way."

"_What do I have to lose?_" I asked myself as I lowered myself into the opening. Deanna quickly followed after me and shut the trap door behind her. After a short while of climbing, I reached solid ground. I waited for Deanna to reach the same level as me before stating, "I'm not going any further until I get some explanations."

Deanna let out a sigh. "You sure can be stubborn. Alright, I will explain what is happening. There is a tunnel down here that will lead us through to another time. It is the time period when Dungeons and Dragons would have existed."

"Sure it is." I said skeptically.

"I didn't believe it myself when I found this path myself. I went through here and sure enough, I found myself in the world of D&D. I joined up with a band of adventurers and have gone on a few quests with them. Since I arrived in this world I have gained the power to use magic." Deanna attempted to explain.

"You sure have gone crazy." I commented.

Deanna shot me a quick glare. "If you don't believe me, watch this." She made a quick pattern with her hands and whispered a couple of unintelligible words. Then, suddenly, a bright light illuminated the room. After a few seconds of adjusting to the light I could make out the source of the light. A large stone was glowing. "Now do you believe me?" Deanna asked.

"Create light spell. Standard level zero sorcerer or wizard spell. Or maybe just a nifty little trick." I stated. "So if everything that you are saying is true, why me?"

"You really are a hard one to convince." Deanna shook her head. "The group of adventurers that I am part of needed another member. The world on the other side is suffering from the rule of a very oppressive ruler. Practically everyone has been turned into mindless slaves because of his brainwashing techniques. Our world is the only place remaining to recruit people from. I chose you because you have knowledge about this world and are an experienced fighter. Need any more information?"

"I'll believe it when I see it." I said as Deanna started along the illuminated path. I didn't really have any choice but to follow her.

"I am surprised you don't remember me, Tint." Deanna stated after a minute or so of walking.

"Should I?" I replied.

"Back in the other world, my father owns a game shop. I was working there the day that you bought your D&D books. I originally thought that you were just some jock who was stopping by to cause trouble. Then you placed those books and the dice on the counter. My entire perspective of you changed." Deanna explained.

I was surprised. That had occurred nearly two years earlier. "That was you? Wow, you sure have changed since then." Maybe it was possible that there was some credibility to her story.

A big wooden door was ahead of us. Deanna stopped at the door and turned to me. "On the other side is the D&D world. Try not to be too surprised or judgmental. The group should be in there somewhere." She grabbed hold of the door handle and pulled the door open.

We walked into what appeared to be a bar. The place was packed. Behind the counter was a guy pouring drinks from large kegs. There were about a dozen people seated on the stools talking silently among themselves. That was when I saw my first non-human species.

At first I thought that the man was just really short. He was about half my height and he had little pointed ears. "Do not stare. He is a halfling." Deanna whispered to me as she pulled me over towards a set of tables over in the corner.

I was really surprised. She had been telling the truth the entire time. This really did look like the world of D&D. I scanned around the rest of the room. Within a short time I identified an elf and dwarf. There was also a half-orc passed out near the bar. "I apologize for doubting you." I whispered back to Deanna.

"No need. I was so incredibly scared when I first came here. There the gang is." Deanna replied as she pulled me towards the table in the far corner. "Hey guys! I found someone! I introduce you to Tint!" She was smiling happily as the group looked me over.

"Nice assortment of weapons, lad." A short stocky guy said in the corner. I was quickly introduced to every member. This short guy was a dwarven cleric of Moradin. He went by the name Rurik Gorunn. His head was entirely bald, but he had a large red beard that protruded from his chin. There was a long jagged scar that ran beneath his left eye, which he had received from a Red Dragon.

Seated next to him was a female halfling. Her name was Jillian Tealeaf. She claimed to be the sole survivor of an order of paladins. The group had been annihilated in a war against the army of an evil cleric. I was quick to learn that she was the leader of the group.

The next guy was an elven ranger. He was on a quest to find the fiend who had raped his mother. Tagorus Liatheon was his name. Tagorus had an eagle perched upon his shoulder. Apparently, this eagle was his animal companion and had been named Aeria. He appeared to be very distrusting of everyone around him especially of his younger sister who he had been forced to bring with him on his quest.

His sister was standing in the shadows. She was the offspring of that fiend. She had a large pair of black wings that she had wrapped around herself like a cloak. A pair of short horns protruded from her forehead and a short spiked tail extended from her back. I was told that she had deviated from her evil nature due to the upraising of the elven community. Her name was Gabriel.

"I do not detect any evil aura coming off of you. But, I do sense a chaotic tendency towards violence. Good choice Deanna." Jillian commented from her seat.

"How much did you explain to him?" Tagorus inquired.

"I only told him that we needed another member. And a little bit about what Boneheimer is doing to the people." Deanna explained in a lowered tone.

Meanwhile, I had approached Gabriel. I was looking her over with interest. "I've always wanted a tail." I commented.

Gabriel gave me a snarl, revealing her sharp teeth. "Insolent human. You are lucky that you are joining us. If I had the chance…" She picked up a bone from the floor and snapped it in half. "That is what would have happened to you."

I quickly backed away from the half-fiend and joined the others at the table. Rurik had taken an interest in my assortment of weapons. "Can I see your axe and long sword? They appear to be quite fine weaponry." He asked.

I complied with his request, unhooking the two weapons and sliding them across the table. Rurik quickly looked over the sword and passed it back. The axe had him memorized. "Amazing quality for a blacksmith from your time period. It has an extremely keen edge and perfect balance for an axe. Would you be willing to part with this?" He asked.

I was busy sheathing the sword back in its scabbard. "I don't see why not. I have enough weapons to hold my own." This comment caused Rurik to chuckle in amusement. "Aye that you are, lad. Is a hundred gold pieces a suitable price for you?" He asked to which I nodded my head. Rurik quickly pulled out a pouch of coins and tossed it across the table to me.

"What is so important about that axe? I have never seen you spend more than twenty gold for a weapon." Tagorus inquired from his seat.

"It has an aura about it that is quite strange." Jillian explained. "I sense that it has some sort of hidden power that has yet to be untapped. Maybe we can take it to the master weaponsmith of Dondoria. He may be able to find out what the power does."

"Isn't Dondoria the capital? What if we run into Boneheimer?" Deanna asked.

"Boneheimer is currently overseas. We are safe until he returns." Jillian answered. "Now you and Tint can go get the cart ready."

"Sure thing. I will have the cart waiting on the outskirts in twenty minutes time." Deanna assured the group before pulling me towards the door. "So, what do you think of the group?" She asked once we were outside in the bright midday sun. We were located in a bustling marketplace, full of activity.

I think we're going to have fun." I answered with a smile.

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_A/N: I hope you like this story. Please tell me if I should continue. If yes, it will be over a week before I find time to get another chapter done. I still am not sure about what Tint will become. He'd make an excellent rouge, or a monk, or even a fighter. Other than that, I believe that this could turn out to be a very good, hilarious, and maybe even romantically inclined adventure. Till next time, Tint out._


	2. First Adventure

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 2: First Adventure_

_A/N: I have to admit that I somewhat agree with grayangle. Personally, I liked the original version more, but what can we do? That chapter got removed and this one is still standing. After that first chapter, the remainder of the story will be fairly similar to what I had planned for the story the first time around. I assure you that this fic will not be purely action, for a fair amount of character plot will be added. I will try to clear up any plot holes that I had created in the first chapter._

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**"Who **is that Boneheimer fellow that they were talking about?" I found myself asking Deanna as we made our way through the market. I was receiving quite a few strange looks from people as I walked past them. It must be because we were wearing clothing from a different age. I would find some time to change later.

"Do not say his name when we are in public. He is feared by the people of this world." Deanna warned, forcing me to a stop. "He is the one who is going around taking over people with his mind control. Just be wary about who you mention him to." With that, Deanna continued her trek through the marketplace. I hesitated for a few seconds before following after her.

We arrived at the entry way to the town a few minutes later. There was a large cart with two sturdy workhorses attached to it parked just within the entrance. A young boy was sitting on the cart and was keeping careful watch over the horses. He noticed Deanna approaching and quickly jumped to his feet. "The horses are ready and safe, miss." He stated with a huge smile.

Deanna retrieved a small silver coin from her pocket and tossed it to the lad. He fitted the coin between his teeth and attempted to bend the coin. "Thanks, much!" He called before vanishing into the alleyways.

I watched as Deanna climbed up onto a bench at the front of the cart. She then beckoned for me to follow her lead. I quickly obliged and sat down beside. "Now what?" I asked.

"We wait for the others." Deanna responded. She was looking steadily in the direction of the pub. I found myself looking her over, remembering that it was her amazing beauty that had convinced me to follow her. "Quit checking me out." She commented out of the corner of her mouth, although she was struggling not to smile.

"Sorry." I apologized. Just then a thought had come to mind. I pulled up my sweater and the chain mail shirt and looked at my stomach. To my surprise I found that there was no sign of the knife wound that I had received the previous day. "What the…" I began to say but Deanna quickly silenced me.

"I should have told you earlier, but I healed your wound back when you were in the hospital." Deanna explained as she revealed a small glowing stone from her pocket. "This thing allows me to heal one wound per day. Very handy to have."

I nodded my head in understanding. "I should have noticed that something was out of the ordinary. Never once did the wound bother me after you visited. Thanks."

"No problem." Deanna smiled. We sat in silence for a minute or two before she came up with something to talk about. "I have been wondering about something about you for quite some time." She admitted.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I am wondering how you managed to find time for all of those achievements that you have reached in life. The fact that you have two black belts in the martial arts has me baffled." Deanna said.

I let out a tiny chuckle. "That's a long story, but since we have time, I might as well tell you. My father is the one who taught me jujitsu. He trained me extremely well and we went through many rigorous training exercises. It took me just over five years to attain a black belt.

My dad was extremely proud of me and had me enter many martial arts tournaments. Well, in one of these tournaments I ended up facing a really tough opponent who had a black belt in karate. Our fight lasted for nearly an hour. The referees ended up calling the match a draw.

A rematch was scheduled for later that day. The two of us made a wager where the winner would receive the loser's belt. You can guess who ended up winning." I finished my story.

Deanna was engrossed in the tale. "So, technically, you only have legitimately received one black belt."

"I still count the karate black belt as being legitimate." I countered.

It was Deanna's turn to laugh. We spent another ten minutes talking to each other before the rest of the group arrived. "I hope that we are not interrupting anything important." Jillian joked when she spotted us. I could swear that Deanna blushed a bit when Jillian said that.

"Go behind that wall and change into these." Tagorus commanded as he tossed both of us a set of clothes. "It is probably best that you blend in with the crowd. We do not want Boneheimer to have a reason to target us."

I did as Tagorus said. A minute later, I emerged wearing my new attire. A simple pair of trousers with a pair of leather boots covered my lower half. A leather vest was layered over an oversized white shirt. I could swear that I looked just like Orlando Bloom's character in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Deanna quickly went behind the wall and got changed. "Stop checking me out! That is the second time that I have told you!" She threatened me when she walked out from behind the wall. She was now wearing a long blue skirt that reached her ankles. The only thing I could say about her top was that it definitely was not covering her entire chest.

"I take it that everything is now in order." Rurik exclaimed. "Let us get under way."

**"Are **we there yet?" I asked impatiently. Today marked the fifth day of traveling. We were currently making out way through a thick forest. Fortunately, there was a faint path that wound itself through the mass of trees. We had yet to run into anybody else on the trail or find anything interesting.

"Quit asking that question!" Gabriel commanded, clearly annoyed. She was flying about a dozen feet above the ground, keeping watch for any form of danger.

"The trip to Dondoria normally takes a full week." Tagorus stated.

"A full week! You mean that we have two more days of this?" I inquired.

"Actually, it takes a full week if you travel day and night. Taking rests like we are extends the time to a week and six days." Jillian explained.

I let out a faint groan. "_What have I gotten myself into? Just because of some good looking girl. What about my life back home? My parents are probably worried sick about me." _I thought.

The sun was beginning to dip out of sight. During the day we could hardly see the sun through the entanglement of the leafy canopy that hung above our heads. Now, the forest was nearly pitch black. "We should set up camp for the night." Deanna suggested.

"Remember, Tint, it is your turn to keep watch for the first half of the night." Rurik commented.

I let out another groan of dismay. I had been looking forward to a nice sleep. Tagorus saw my look of dismay and spoke up, "Do not worry. You only need to stay awake for the four hours while I meditate."

"Four hours of less sleep. How much fun!" I said sarcastically.

"That's the spirit!" Rurik exclaimed giving me a hearty slap on the back as he approached the cart. He then retrieved a large axe and headed to a nearby fallen tree. He was going to cut some wood for the fire.

**It **was a few hours later. I found myself staring mindlessly into the burning flames before me. Everyone else was sleeping or meditating in Tagorus' case. I was somewhat frightened when I saw Gabriel hunched up in a nearby tree.

I was really starting to regret ever coming to this world. Sure, I was the kind of person who searched for adventure. But this was getting tiresome. I hadn't done anything. The only thing keeping me here was Deanna, and chances are that she wasn't going to be interested in me.

Well, honestly, who would want to stay here? This world sounded very dangerous and I wasn't sure if I could manage to survive. I could handle my own back in my world, but this was different. Everyday was a fight for survival. That should make the inhabitants of this world that much stronger.

I was becoming very tired of keeping watch. My eyes were becoming heavy. The ground seemed to be inviting me to lie down. It was all that I could do to resist the temptation. I found myself dozing off for a few seconds and snapping back to reality momentarily before falling asleep for another quick nap.

Some movement in the bushes caught my attention. A few muffled sounds followed the movement at the bushes began to bustle with activity. I got up to my feet, unsheathing my sword as I went. Then, just as suddenly as they had started moving, the bushes quit moving.

I figured that it was best to check to see if anything was amiss. I silently crept towards the bush, keeping my eyes peeled. I parted the bushes and strained to see the cause of the disturbance. Suddenly, I found myself entangled in a net, being dragged to the ground. I desperately tried to call out in surprise, but a rag was place over my mouth, muffling my voice.

I could hardly make out my attackers in the darkness. The dim glow from the fire illuminated their rough scale covered bodies. They looked like miniature versions of dinosaurs. Each one wore a tiny leather vest and carried a small spear. I recognized them as Kobolds, relatively weak monsters. But here I was, beaten by a bunch of them. Now that's a humiliating experience. The Kobolds had dragged me over to a nearby tree and tied me to the trunk, ensuring that I couldn't escape.

There were about twenty of the little buggers. One clearly stood out as the leader and he gave orders to the other Kobolds. The creatures split into groups. The majority of the Kobolds headed over to the cart, while a few snuck up on the others. A few stayed behind to watch over me. It appeared that these creatures were a bunch of bandits.

One Kobold was poking me with his spear. He made a comment to his comrades and they made some sort of laughing sound. I tried to kick out at him, but was unable to reach. In response, the Kobold gave me an extra hard jab and backed away to a safer distance.

A short screech of surprise drew everyone's attention. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to wake my group. The Kobolds were looking around, trying to locate the source of the sound. The screech sounded again, this time from above. We all looked up to see a Kobold falling out of nowhere. He hit the ground with a sickening thud.

The nearest Kobold rushed to the fallen one's side. He looked over the body and shook his head. "Dead." He commented as he stepped away from the body. The next thing we knew, he was sent flying into a nearby tree.

The Kobolds were scared out of their minds. They were under attack by some unseen force. At least the members of my group didn't appear to be waking up. I was amazed at how deeply they were sleeping. They should have woken up at the first sign of combat. Another Kobold, this one was near the cart, was struck down.

Suddenly my arms became free. "The others are under a sleeping spell. It is just us two able to fight." The voice belonged to Gabriel. She was hiding in the shadows behind the tree that I was tied to. It must have been her that was wrecking havoc on the Kobolds. Before I knew it, I saw her go flying into the night sky to make another attack pass on the enemies.

I carefully collected my sword without drawing the Kobolds' attention. They hadn't taken it very far away from me. The Kobolds had huddled closely together near the fire, carefully keeping their eyes peeled for Gabriel. I attempted to sneak over to Rurik, who was closest to me, but a Kobold spotted me.

I barely managed to dodge the spears that were hurled at me. The tiny creatures hurriedly advanced upon me, but stopped short when I drew my sword. They slowly began to back away from me, ready to make a dash for safety. Gabriel had descended back to solid ground and was ready to charge the Kobolds. Her mace was already smeared with the blood of the Kobolds that she had already slain.

The sight of the elven half fiend was enough to convince the Kobolds to flee. Gabriel was ready to chase after them, but I steadied her. "Leave them. We can't leave the others undefended." I told her as I put away my blade.

"Wise choice, Tint. You stay here, I will give chase." With that, Gabriel flew off in the direction that the Kobolds went in.

It wasn't much later when the others awoke from their slumber. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, casting a glow over everything it touched. I explained what had happened during the night while they were asleep. They seemed skeptical at first until they saw the bodies scattered around the camp area.

Gabriel returned not long after I finished my explanation. "I only got four more." She announced, somewhat disappointedly, as she landed among the group.

"Where would Kobolds find access to such a powerful sleep spell? It even managed to affect Tagorus." Jillian pondered as she extinguished the fire with a pile of dirt.

"I don't know." Rurik replied. "Tint, did you here anyone chanting anything strange while you were on guard?"

I shrugged my shoulders in response. "Nope, nothing. But I did become drowsy really suddenly at one point."

"Maybe it was some sort of powder or potion they laced the area with before we arrived." Deanna suggested.

The others quickly dismissed the idea. "That wouldn't account for Tint and Gabriel being awake throughout." Jillian explained.

"We should not worry so much about it. Nothing was stolen and we are unharmed. Maybe someone would know something at the Fire'n'Water Inn. We are headed that way anyway." Rurik submitted his choice.

"Brilliant thinking, Rurik. It is along the path to Dondoria, so we can stop there on the way." Jillian decided.

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A/N: _I know it's a lot shorter than the first chapter. I'm not good at writing a story that continuously hits high word counts every chapter. I hope you liked this chapter and please leave a review on your way out._


	3. The Fire'n'Water Inn

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 3: The Fire'n'Water Inn_

_A/N: It's so nice when school is cancelled because of -40 degree weather. So I got this chapter started a little earlier than expected. Enjoy this new chapter and please continue with the reviews._

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**The **group was still confused as to why the Kobolds had attacked us. That is why we had decided to stop at the Fire'n'Water Inn on the way to Dondoria. There, we would find an expert on the local wildlife that may know the reason behind the unexplained magic that these Kobold's wielded. This expert was a Centaur who had been cursed by Boneheimer for being rebellious. Jillian had known this Centaur long before she had chosen to follow the path of a Paladin.

The forest opened up slightly, letting in a strong ray of light. Gabriel flinched slightly at the sudden change in brightness. The fiend in her must not like bright lights, which was understandable. Fiends almost always lived in dark places, attacking only at night. I had been lucky that Gabriel had been awake at the time of the Kobold attack.

Tucked neatly away among the trees was a two story building. Hanging loosely above the front door was a sign showing a lake lit on fire. Very interesting representation of the name. "Tint, go park the cart. Meet us inside after." Jillian ordered.

I grumbled slightly as the other five wandered inside of the Inn. I directed the cart over to an area where some other beasts of burden and their loads. The two workhorses were happy to get the rest as I attached them to a tree.

I calmly made my way back to the door to the Inn. I opened the door and walked inside, assaulted by the sudden silence that was inside. Every inhabitant was staring menacingly at the group. "Hey! We don't serve their kind here." The barkeep said, pointing at our group.

"What?" Rurik asked in disbelief.

"That fiend. She'll have to wait outside." The barkeeper was obviously referring to Gabriel. A few of the drunks were readying their weapons for battle. I had a feeling that a fight could break out at any second.

Tagorus turned to Gabriel. "Do you mind?" He asked her. She shook her head in response and quickly exited the Inn. Maybe it was just me, but it looked like she was upset. As soon as the door slammed shut behind Gabriel, the bar turned into a regular scene of drunkenness.

Jillian apparently spotted her contact and was making her way towards the far side of the room. Rurik and Tagorus were following closely behind her, trying to lose her among the feet. Deanna stood at my side, as if she was waiting for me to move first. "I feel bad for Gabby." Deanna said, sounding somewhat depressed.

Meanwhile, my brain was racking itself. "I'm sure that scene happened in Star Wars." I stated, totally ignoring whatever it was that Deanna had just said. Deanna looked at me like I was crazy. "You know the scene right before Obi Wan cuts off those guys' arms? Now that was sweet! Well anyway, as you know, the bartender didn't like droids."

Deanna shook her head. "I just had to pick a nerd." She muttered to herself.

I smiled proudly, "Speak for yourself! You were the runner up in our high school."

"And who got first?" She asked smugly.

"I did." I said with a smile.

"Then, the bigger nerd should go talk to Gabriel." Deanna suggested, ushering me out the door. Then she proceeded to shut the door behind me.

I looked around the clearing, trying to locate Gabriel. Of course, she was nowhere to be seen in the light. I found myself taking my search back into the forest, searching the treetops for the elven half fiend. Sure enough, I found her perched up on a branch. Her wings were curled around her and she appeared to be shaking uncontrollably. "You ok?" I asked when I stopped beneath her tree.

She looked over at me, her eyes glowing with an unusual glimmer that I had never seen before. "What do you want?" She hissed. Maybe my imagination was running wild, but was she crying? I didn't know that fiends could cry.

I hesitated slightly from her remark, somewhat afraid for my personal safety. I pulled myself up a couple of branches and sat down close to Gabriel. Gabriel kept her eyes locked on me as I leaned against the tree. "It's nothing to cry about." I stated.

The tree shuddered as Gabriel's mace struck against the tree near my head. "I am not crying!" Gabriel denied, even though her voice betrayed her words. Meanwhile, I was very thankful that I wasn't sitting any closer to her. "Everywhere I go, everyone treats me that way. They take one look at me and scream, 'look, a big stupid, ugly fiend.' I just want to be treated like a normal elf would."

I honestly felt bad for her. It wasn't her fault that she was part fiend. "You know, I like you just the way that you are. If I could, I'd take your fiend heritage from you." I said, attempting to sound nice and caring.

Gabriel had stopped her crying. "Do you really mean that?" She asked.

I nodded my head. "Honest. It's because of you that any of us are lucky enough to still be alive." I stated, referring to the Kobold attack.

"I expect you to repay that favor in the future." Gabriel chuckled. "Did you see the look on their faces when I dropped that one from the sky?"

I nodded my head as I envisioned the fight. "They almost died in fear right then."

"You are not like any other human that I have ever run into. You are actually a very kind person. I am honored that we are traveling together. I consider you a friend." I looked at Gabriel in surprise. I never expected that I would make friends with an elven chick with black wings.

"I say it's time to make a stand." I suggested as I jumped from my branch. I looked back over my shoulder. Gabriel was looking at me with great interest. I motioned for her to follow me as I walked towards the Fire'n'Water Inn.

The two of us made our way across the clearing and up to the door of the Inn. Just as I reached out for the doorknob, a nearby window suddenly shattered as a drunken orc was flung through it. I looked at Gabriel, who was just as confused as I was. We stepped over the unconscious orc and looked in the window.

The Fire'n'Water Inn was a madhouse, with furniture and punches being thrown in every direction. In the center of the commotion were Rurik, Tagorus, and a green Centaur. Jillian and Deanna were carefully threading their way towards the entrance, trying to escape without any harm.

Gabriel was already climbing through the window, fighting her way towards the guys. The scene reminded me of the fights between the nerds and punks back home. Good times. I jumped through the window, ready for an attack on me at any second. For some reason I headed over to where I had last seen Deanna and Jillian.

A human with a dagger in his hand stepped in front of me. He swung out at me, aiming for my stomach. I jumped aside, pushing over another person as I did. I grabbed hold of the man's extended knife hand, pulling him towards me. As I did, I kicked out with my left foot, striking the man in his stomach. He quickly doubled over in pain, clearing a path between me and the females.

Jillian had made it safely outside, but Deanna wasn't in as good of position. She had been backed into a corner, surrounded by a couple of boorish appearing drunks. The two human males looked at each other with a dirty look on their faces. Then, they advanced upon the defenseless girl.

I reached out and managed to reach out and tap one of the men on the shoulder. He turned his head to look at me only to receive a solid hook across his face. The second man saw his partner fall to the ground and turned his focus on me. He picked up an overturned chair, raising the furniture above his head. Just as he was about to throw the chair, something happened to him, causing him to drop the weapon and fall to the floor.

Deanna stood smugly behind the fallen man. In her hand was the broken remains of a jug. "I appreciate the rescue attempt, but next time remember that the rescuer should not require help from the rescued." She stated as she tossed the remaining pieces of the jug aside.

"I didn't ask for help, did I?" I retorted, grabbing her hand and pulling her through the mob. Apparently, they had forgotten their original purpose for the fight and were just attacking people at random. After fending off a couple of drunken fighters, Deanna and I safely made our way out the door.

Jillian and the others were waiting patiently for us on the outside. "Let us get away from this place before anyone decides to disturb us any further." The halfling suggested.

Of course, I was sent to retrieve the cart and horses. I quickly untied the rope that kept the horses in place and jumped behind the reins. The two animals actually responded to my orders, which hardly had occurred since we left from that first town. The cart lurched forward, past the other heroes and down the trail. Deanna, Rurik, and Jillian jumped aboard the cart as it went passed them. Gabriel, Tagorus, and the Centaur had already gone ahead.

We traveled along the path for about an hour before Jillian decided that it was safe for us to stop and make camp. I was surprised when I looked up and saw that the sun was already setting. The day had gone by really fast, but then again, most of the time had been traveling to the Fire'n'Water Inn.

By the time I had secured the horses, Deanna had already started a fire. The others gathered around and waited for me to join them. Jillian proceeded to introduce me to the Centaur. "Tint, this is Fido. Fido, I believe you know the others."

Fido looked around at the other faces that had gathered. I stared in amazement when I noticed that his green coat let him blend in perfectly with the wilderness that surrounded him. "If it isn't too much of a bother, may I ask a question?" I asked.

Fido nodded his head in approval, saying, "If it is about my fur, I will save your breath. Back before this region fell under the powers of Boneheimer, I was the leader of my clan. Boneheimer invaded and my people put up a fight. I was the only one to survive and as punishment, Boneheimer cursed me with this fur. But, that was back when he was only a Mindflayer and not a Lich, yet."

I suddenly thought back to my D&D group back home. Hadn't one of the players wanted to create a Mindflayer/Lich? I remembered what I had read about the two monsters. The Mindflayer was one of the evilest creatures in the game. Its pastimes included sucking out someone's brain and using mind control. The Lich was the ultimate undead creature. In order to become a Lich, something had to go through an incredibly evil process that involved killing hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

My thought process was interrupted by Fido. He was explaining how the Kobolds had gained access to a sleep spell that could overpower even an Elf. "Recently, someone managed to sneak inside of Dondoria and steal a special jewel from the forehead of the Copper Dragon that guards the castle. This jewel has the magical ability to grant the owner unlimited magical powers. It was because of the jewel's disappearance that the Dragon of Dondoria was unable to defend the castle against Boneheimer. I do not know how this thief managed this event, but nonetheless, this jewel has fallen into the hands of these Kobolds. We must retrieve the jewel and return it to the dragon. That way, we will be able to deal a decisive blow against Boneheimer. If we regain Dondoria, we just might have a chance to win this war."

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_A/N: A power hungry Mindflayer/Lich ruling the world, a fiend to get revenge against, and a herd of Kobolds with the power to destroy the world. Who are you scared of most? Poor, poor Tint and friends. Thanks for reading and please review._


	4. The Kobold Cave

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 4: The Kobold Cave_

_A/N: Three days of school canceled in the past week. Got to love Canadian weather. -40 degree weather one day, the next day it rains, the day after has three centimeters of ice covering the roads. Is it just me or is the world's weather going a little crazy? The tsunami in Southeast Asia, floods in California, snow in Nevada, freezing rain in Alberta, and who knows what else is going on out there?_

_Never mind all of this weather talk. I know that it is very strange to give a Centaur a dog's name. The idea came to me from my D&D group. An elven druid character managed to rescue a newborn Centaur during a fire. Now, she's raising the Centaur and named it Fido. People think up of some pretty weird things._

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**"How **many do you think there are?" Jillian was asking Gabriel.

The half fiend shrugged her wings. "I spotted only ten, but there has to be more of them inside of their cave."

Gabriel had just returned from a quick flight over the location of the Kobold's lair. Fido had provided us with the location of this hidden base and left. He said that he had to deal with some more important matters elsewhere in the forest. Now, our group was overlooking the entrance to the cave from atop a small cliff opposite the cave. The ten Kobolds were lazily gathered in front of the gaping hole in a small rock pile.

Jillian was busy drawing out a plan for the upcoming battle. She was using her sword to draw the layout of the cave and surrounding area. "Gabriel, Deanna, and I will head to the right side of the entrance. Rurik and Tint will be on the left side. Tagorus, you will stay here. Wait for my signal and shoot an arrow at the Kobolds. Once we see the arrow fired, the rest of us will charge in towards the entrance. Tagorus will join the battle. Rurik, I want you to take Deanna and Tint into the cave while the rest of us finish off the Kobolds above ground. We will join you as soon as we deal with our problem. Any questions?"

The just barely visible sun was all that illuminated us as we shook our heads in response. The sun was glowing a deep shade of red. Wasn't there an old saying, 'red sun in the morning, take warning'? I had a bad feeling about this, but for what reason, I couldn't explain. Maybe it was because I got beaten by these exact same Kobolds two days ago.

The three females had already started off towards their flanking position. Rurik waited patiently for me to snap out of my daydream before hauling me off to the left side of the cave. The dwarf had the ax that I had sold him clutched in his hand. "Ready for your first real fight?" He asked once we got into position.

In response, I pulled out my sword. "As ready as I'll ever be." I lied. Truthfully, I was scared. Somewhere inside that cave was a Kobold with great magical powers. I was just hoping that I wouldn't be the one to run across the magically enhanced reptile.

Rurik seemed to notice that I wasn't fully telling the truth. "Do not worry, kid. Just remember that they will try to kill you. Kill them before they kill you. Nothing else is important."

The dwarven cleric had some logical wisdom behind his words of support. He must have fought beside many rookie combatants in his days. A bird call sounded from somewhere among the trees. Before the sound had ended, an arrow came flying through the trees. The Kobold that the arrow struck didn't stand a chance. Tagorus' shot had caught the Kobold right between the eyes.

Rurik was already heading towards the cave. The Kobolds were in a panic, desperately readying their spears. The scene didn't become any better when Gabriel descended into the center of the group. Heads were smashed in while another arrow felled a Kobold.

Deanna made it to the cave entrance shortly before Rurik and I reached the battle. Ahead of me, Rurik cut down the only Kobold that had realized that the two of us had joined the battle. We had a clear path to the cave. It looked like the other three had the battle well under control. Deanna joined us as we went running past her into the dark cave.

The three of us traveled quite a few meters past the entrance before any torches began to line the walls. For some odd reason, the tunnel was completely empty. Not a single Kobold was in sight. Rurik seemed to be able to read my mind. "Do not let any of the Kobolds trigger the alarm." With his right hand he pointed to a rope that ran long the top of the cave. I could only guess that the rope was connected to some sort of loud device.

About forty meters into the cave, the tunnel branched out into three different directions. Rurik walked a few steps down each of the new tunnels. "The center one leads further underground. I will take that path. You two can each take a separate path. If you run into any trouble trigger that alarm." With those orders the dwarf rushed forward, deeper into the earth.

Deanna considered the two paths with interest. "I hate when the groups splits up. But, this way we can hopefully find the dragon's jewel quicker. I'll take the left path, you take the right."

I nodded my head in understanding, watching as the beautiful blond collected a torch before wandering down the leftmost path. It suddenly began to feel really isolated down here. I swallowed nervously as I began walking down the path that I had been assigned to.

This tunnel was a lot longer than the previous one. I realized that after traveling for approximately two hundred meters. There were only a few torches, each one positioned so that the far extents of the light radius of the torches barely overlapped. I was startled when I ran across a blue light screen that covered the tunnel.

"What's this?" I asked myself as I reached out to touch the strange light. Surprisingly, my hand passed right through the barrier. I pulled my hand back and examined it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my extremity. "Must not be working properly." I commented as I walked through the blue light screen.

There was only a short bit of tunnel remaining. Beyond what was left of the tunnel was a huge expansive cavern. Huge piles of treasure were piled along either side of the cave. Two lines of torches lined the sides of a long carpet that ran from the tunnel that I was in up to a huge throne. Seated in the throne was a Kobold with a crown on its head. In the center of the crown was a huge glowing red ruby. I had run into the Kobold who held the dragon's jewel.

The first thought that ran through my mind was to run. I turned, ready to run back down the tunnel and get the rest of the group. Instead of a tunnel, a solid rock wall now stood before me. The light screen must have transformed into rock after I passed through it. Behind me, I could hear the Kobold king chuckling at my helpless plight. I turned slowly to face the creature.

The Kobold didn't move from his perch, but I knew that he was examining me. "You are the one that my men overpowered two nights ago. I was hoping that one of the more powerful members of your group would be my challenge. Instead, I get stuck with the weakling."

I gulped nervously as I tried to summon the courage to answer back. "Then it will be a shame when I kick your ass."

Once again the Kobold chuckled. "Foolish child. I know that you are scared. Your thoughts give you away."

He had called my bluff. But how had he known that I was scared? Could he read my mind? If that was the case, I was so screwed. I was about to say something back to the Kobold when he interrupted me. "Yes, I am psychic. Right now you feel frightened. I do not blame you. I would be scared if I was faced with a challenge that I had no chance of beating." The Kobold got up from his throne, regally making his way towards me.

If the jewel had granted him psychic powers, what else could it do? I looked around the room nervously. I spotted a spear among the treasure piles, so I grabbed hold of it and tossed it at the Kobold. The small creature held out his hand and the spear stopped. The weapon hung in mid-air for a few seconds before it began to turn around to face me. With one swift motion of his hand, the spear was sent flying back at me. The spear embedded itself in the rock wall, barely missing me as it went through my legs. "Consider it a warning shot. Do not try anything like that again." The Kobold warned.

The magically empowered Kobold was about halfway down the carpet and kept enclosing on me. He then extended both of his hands towards me. "Magic Missile." He stated.

In response to his orders, a small ball of light appeared in his hands. The ball of light grew larger as the Kobold drew his hands to his sides. The motion reminded me of the Kamehameha wave from the DragonBall series. Stupid me. I'm faced with a deadly situation and the first thing I think of is an anime show. Deanna was right. I am a nerd.

I waited expectantly as the Kobold let his attack gain power. Sure enough, the reptile launched the light ball at me when he brought his hands forward again. I quickly dived to the right, but not quick enough. A searing pain swept through me as I felt the Magic Missile brush against my arm.

The Kobold was laughing as I picked myself up off the ground. My left arm hung limply at my side. A huge chunk of skin had been burned away from my arm. The wound was bleeding profusely, with trickles of the red liquid making trails down my arm, forming a small puddle on the ground where they collected.

"At least you have faster reflexes than I expected. I would be upset if you lasted only one attack." The kobold showed his sharp pointed teeth as he went back to laughing.

I held on to my sword with my right hand, pointing the weapon at the gloating creature. "That's the best you got? Don't make **ME **laugh." I began to laugh hysterically.

The Kobold was obviously angered. His laughing stopped and he glared evilly at me. He made a motion with his hand and I felt my feet being lifted off the ground. "Oops." He stated as he chucked me against a wall.

I was held up against the wall for a few seconds before I was thrown across the cave and into the opposite wall. My head struck a rock that jutted out of the wall. Everything became a whole bunch fuzzier and a little red as a cut was opened up above my right eye.

"What's this?" The Kobold inquired. His eyes glimmered with greed as he spotted the chain mail that I wore. With one psychic movement, the Kobold stole my armor. I watched helplessly as the chain mail joined a pile of treasure. "No use wrecking a perfectly fine suit of chain mail." The evil creature joked.

Next, the Kobold held me against the ceiling. He was toying with me now, just like a cat with a captured mouse. The smile across his face grew as he tossed additional objects up at me. Treasure chests, pieces of armor, and I think he tossed a golden wagon wheel at me once. One item struck my good arm, causing me to drop the sword I had clenched in my right hand.

I could feel every bone in my body hurt as they strained to remain in one piece. Many had already collapsed under the incredible forces that smashed into my body. Suddenly, the Kobold stopped his barrage of projectiles and began lowering me towards the ground. I collapsed into a nearly unconscious heap right in front of the Kobold.

The tiny reptile began circling around me. Every few steps he would lash out with a ruthless kick. "Get up." He ordered.

I lifted my head off the ground to see the Kobold return to his throne. "He must have gotten bored with playing." I thought to myself as he grabbed hold of a spear that was beside the large chair. I tried to push myself to my knees, but my legs wouldn't respond. The best I managed to do was roll myself onto my back. It took all the energy I had left just to be able to breathe.

The Kobold was now standing above me. "I told you to get up," he stated calmly as he kicked me in the side. In response to his kick I spat out at him. The reptile calmly wiped away the blood that I had spit at him. The next thing I knew, I huge pain erupted in my stomach. I lifted my head and looked down at the spear that was embedded into my gut.

"You have spunk, kid. It is a shame that you chose to join the side of good. Boneheimer could use people like you in his army." The Kobold picked me off the ground, spear included, and tossed me against a wall. "Magic Missile." The creature stated.

So Boneheimer had something to do with the Kobold's attaining this new power. Too bad that I wouldn't be around to pass on the information to the rest of the group. I watched as the ball of light grew to an even larger size than the first Magic Missile. He was really going to kill me.

Suddenly, the room was filled with a loud clanging noise. The Kobold sighed as he made the light ball disappear. "You are lucky. I will deal with your friends before I finish with you. Don't move, if you can." The Kobold grumbled something as he walked towards the tunnel I had used to enter this chamber. The rock disapeared and the Kobold king vanished along the tunnel.

So there I was, pinned up against the wall like a trophy from some hunt. I head was beginning to clear, but my vision was still blurred from the blood that flowed from the wound above my eye. I felt so incredibly weak from all of the vital fluid that I had lost. I tested my limbs, disappointed to learn that I could move only my one arm and my left leg. The other two limbs hung lifelessly and no amount of willpower would convince them to move.

I realized that it was only the spear that was holding off the ground. Maybe if I could pull it out, I could get back on solid ground. I grabbed hold of the spears shaft and pushed away from me. I used my left leg to push off from the wall. Sure enough, after a minute of coaxing, the spear became dislodged. The spear fell harmlessly aside as I fell to the ground.

When I was up on the wall, I had spotted an item that might prove helpful. I pulled myself along the ground towards the pile of treasure where I had spotted the item. The clanging had stopped and I could hear footsteps returning from the tunnel. I crawled up onto the pile of gold and reached out for the item. "How did you get down?" I heard the Kobold king ask as he entered the room.  
"Screw you. What did you do to my friends?" I demanded, collapsing on top of the item that interested me.

"Oh… them. I tossed them in my prison. I'll take care of them after I kill you. Magic Missile." The Kobold obviously was lying. He kept looking nervously over his shoulder as he powered up the magical attack. I dragged myself and the item onto the carpet, leaving myself in the wide open for his attack. "Foolish human." The Kobold muttered as he launched his spell.

"Just what I was waiting for." I stated as I lifted up the item that I had found. The Magic Missile struck into the shield and turned back on the Kobold king. A look of horror filled his reptilian eyes as his own magic descended on him. The light ball enveloped his small body, leaving only his head. I had just defeated the Kobold king.

Down the tunnel, I could see the rest of the group coming towards me. I smiled at the sight of them. That was the last thing I remembered as everything turned black.

**"He's **coming around!" Deanna called out as my eyes began to pry themselves open. I groaned slightly as Deanna helped me into a sitting position. I found myself pushing myself up with my left arm and I looked at the healed limb in amazement. We were seated outside the entrance of the cave and the afternoon sun was bright overhead.

"What happened?" I asked.

Deanna chuckled at my question. "We want to ask you the same thing."

By now the rest of the group had gathered around me. Rurik was giving me a hearty pound on the back, laughing, "That Kobold sure gave you one bad beating. You are lucky that I was there to heal you."

So that explained why my arm was working. The same could be said for my leg. All that remained as evidence from the encounter was quite a few scars. "My equipment?" I asked as I got to my feat with Gabriel's help.

Jillian pointed to the neat little pile nearby. Sure enough, my chain mail shirt and sword were there. Also there was the mirror shield that I had used against the Magic Missile spell. "A little reward for killing their king." The halfling smiled as I examined the reflective surface.

"What about the rest of the treasure in the throne room and the jewel?" I inquired.

Tagorus held up a small chest. "The jewel is inside. We claimed this cave as our new headquarters. Deanna placed a spell on the entrance. Only we can enter that cave from now on."

"So now where do we go?" I asked. The mirror shield now was strapped to my back.

Jillian supplied the answer. "Off to Dondoria. Tint, go get the cart."

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_A/N: That solves the Kobold problem. That sure was close for Tint. What happens when the group reaches Dondoria? Find out next chapter. Also, can someone tell me if I spell that DragonBall attack correctly? Thanks._


	5. Dragon of Dondoria

DD Tag Along

_Chapter 5: Dragon of Dondoria_

_A/N: Demonick is right. Tint's new shield is indeed based upon the Mirror Shield of the Legend of Zelda. Fido may only appear as a jerk until I reveal the reason behind his absence during the Kobold cave incident. Rubymoon, you bring up an interesting point about the tilt changing by a few degrees. That would explain the 0 degree weather in Florida… Thanks to both of you for your continued support. Sorry for taking so long to get out this next chapter._

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**A **smug look was across my face as the workhorses dragged the cart across the uneven road. I was feeling incredibly cocky from my ingenious method of defeating the Kobold king. It was doubtful that any of the others would think of doing something like that. But, then again, the others probably wouldn't have gotten their buts kicked like I did.

Somebody was saying something to me, snapping me out of my glorious daydream. "…remember to act normal. Got that?" Jillian asked.

"Of course he didn't get it. He was too busy daydreaming." Deanna joked from beside me. The guilty look across my face gave me away.

"Then I will say it one more time. Dondoria is the center of Boneheimer's empire. When we get there, pretend that you are an ordinary citizen. We do not want anyone to recognize that we are not under Boneheimer's control. Just remember to act normal." Jillian ordered, stressing the act normal part. It was almost like she knew that I didn't know how to act normal.

"No need to worry. I'll go with him and keep him in check." Deanna offered.

Rurik suddenly looked alarmed. "Great. Put the two future people together in our world and leave them to do whatever. Gabriel should go with them also." Gabriel growled in response, but nodded her head in acceptance. Put the three misfits together in a very large town. I couldn't wait until we ran into the trouble that we were guaranteed to meet.

A thought went through my head that I had been meaning to ask. "Exactly how much control does Boneheimer have over the people in this world?" I asked to nobody in particular.

Tagorus was the one who supplied the answer. "That has yet to be determined. From what we have observed, there are two different levels. The first level includes the brutes that we messed with at the Fire'n'Water Inn. They live out their lives without the slightest clue that they are under Boneheimer's control, but at moment they could be serving as spies, puppets, or soldiers for him."

"What about the second level?" I asked when Tagorus paused.

The elven ranger shuddered slightly. "Those are the choice subjects. They are the ones who would be out adventuring, just like us. Boneheimer hunts them down and takes them to his laboratory. There he messes with their bodies, turning them into mutants with super powers."

Deanna leaned over and whispered, "Boneheimer has learned how to mess with someone's DNA." Why did she have to go and scare me like that?

Just appearing over the horizon was part of a castle. There had to be at least twenty towers sprouting above the gigantic wall that surrounded the castle and town. Atop each of the towers was a flag, colored black with two red triangles pointed towards the center. Along the top of the wall, men armed with large pikes patrolled along intently. This must be Dondoria.

Jillian was ready to give orders. "Tagorus, Rurik, and I will search out the weaponsmith, Orion. He should be able to identify that axe that Tint sold Rurik. Tint, Deanna, and Gabriel will locate the copper dragon. Feel free to buy some supplies in the meantime."

Our cart was ordered to a stop once we arrived at the gate to Dondoria. A large man with four arms approached us and asked, "Who is the leader of the group here?" Jillian held up her hand, signaling the guard over. "Party number and purpose." The guard demanded.

"Party Delta eighteen, reporting for mandatory rest and supply period." Jillian quickly retorted in an official manner.

The guard who had approached the cart turned to his partner, who was consulting a crystal ball with her three eyes. "They are early by two days. Plus this one is not on the roster." The female guard pointed at me. I gulped nervously as the four armed giant of a man approached me.

Tagorus was quick to supply an excuse. "We found this young man in the forests to the south. He has very important information regarding the resistance group that has been causing trouble over the past few months. We need to take him to be interrogated for information."

The guard pondered Tagorus' explanation for a few seconds, eventually waving us inside. I let out a brief sigh of gratitude, but then I realized what Tagorus had said. Interrogated? What if the guard checked to see if I had been brought before any sort of policing agency? That would identify us as resistance fighters and the entire town would be after us. That was exactly what I needed at the moment.

Dondoria looked exactly like that very first town that I had arrived in when I came to this world. The buildings were constructed of large stone slabs roofed with wood and straw. The streets were bustling with the same kinds of creatures that I had seen before, but all of them had physical modifications.

My wandering thoughts were snapped by Deanna waving her hands before my face. "What do you want?" I asked as I turned to face the pest.

Deanna smiled, "Good to see that you are in a pleasant mood. The others have already gone off to find Orion. Gabriel is waiting for us to get our shopping started."

"Shopping…" I groaned. I never liked the form of torture in the real world and didn't have high hopes for this time period. A wicked thought crossed my mind at that moment. Maybe I could find some sort of lust potion that I could use on Deanna. The blond girl seemed to read my mind, "Whatever it is, it won't work." Damn. Gabriel was further up ahead along the street, shaking her head.

The three of us searched through the various stores, picking up odds and ends to replenish our supplies. After the first ten minutes, I was already bored out of my mind. You can guess that my already overactive mind became nothing but mush after another hour of wandering about aimlessly. "Can I interest you in something?" A nearby shopkeeper asked as I passed by his stand.

I stopped and looked at the man. He was covered with a dark cloak that showed only a pair of glowing eyes beneath the hood. This guy didn't look like he could be trusted. But then again, I had one hundred gold coins to waste, and my supervisors hadn't noticed my disappearance, yet.

The shopkeeper looked me over with curiosity. "You might like this, Tint." The hooded man was pointing towards a rectangular shape that was draped with a blue silk cloth. Beneath the cover, something was moving.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, leaning over to take a peak beneath the silk cloth. "Oh, sweet! How much?" I exclaimed when I saw what was inside of the cage. I no longer cared about how this strange man knew me.

I could see a strange smirk cross the face of the shopkeeper. "Let's just say that I'm on your guys' side. For you, only the hundred gold pieces that Rurik paid you for that axe that you brought with you from your world."

For one short moment my brain thought of something reasonable to ask. "How did you get hold of this?"

"It needs to get out of this city and away from Boneheimer. Please." The cloaked man began to beg. This guy had some serious problems. I smiled as I tossed the bag of coins across the counter. In return, the shopkeeper lifted up the cage; cover included, and placed it in my awaiting arms.

"Keep yourself safe." I offered as I snuck back into the crowd. The rest of the group would be amazed at what I had found. I felt extremely proud as I darted between the buildings. Suddenly, a strong hand grasped my shoulder. I gulped nervously as I turned to face the person who had snuck up on me.

Deanna glared back at me. "Don't you ever go sneaking off like that again! We thought that someone found out that you were on the side of good. Jillian would have killed me if you blew our cover."

A smile crossed my face as Deanna chewed me out. When she stopped I held out my purchase. "Lookie." I said in a childish voice.

Deanna gave me a confused look. Then she lifted up the edge of the cloth and glanced into the cage. "Is that…?" She asked in an astonished tone. I nodded my head, my smile brimming proudly. "We need to go find the rest of the group and get to a private area." I informed the blond haired girl.

"Gabby is with them already. They sent me to look for you." Deanna replied coolly. With that Deanna took hold of my arm and forcefully dragged me through the alley. After rounding a few bends, Deanna stopped us at a doorway. "Resistance HQ." She stated as she tapped on the door.

A tiny window slid open and a pair of eyes observed us. "Password." The owner of the eyes demanded.

"Open up the door or I will kick your ass." Deanna quickly snapped.

"Password accepted." The window was quickly shut and the door pulled open from inside. The bouncer turned out to be a brown skinned ogre that glared sullenly as Deanna and I went passed him. The room turned out to be a tiny tavern with only a few seats inside. Deanna guided me over to the group, who were waiting in a corner. This very closely resembled the time when I was dragged into this world.

"You guys are not going to believe what Tint bought!" Deanna exclaimed. Right now she was reminding me of a typical high school girl, like what she was supposed to be. The other heroes appeared bored, except for Rurik, who was admiring his axe which now gleamed with a sparkling white glow. "Tint, show them." Deanna ordered.

I carefully placed the cage down on the table, waiting a few seconds for dramatic effect before yanking the silk cloth off. "Well it's about time that you took off that stupid cloth. Now I can finally get a good look at my new master." The wyrmling copper dragon looked up at me, "Big mistake. Hey, good looking." The young dragon now turned his attention to Deanna.

"Is that the guardian of Dondoria? I thought that it was a majestic creature the size of a large sailboat, not this puny little thing." Jillian stated in disbelief.

"If you don't like my size, then you can kiss my shiny copper tail. I am indeed the dragon of Dondoria. That bastard Boneheimer turned me back into a young dragon. Now when I get my claws on him…" The energetic cursing dragon let the threat hang.

"Prove it." Tagorus demanded.

The copper dragon turned his head up in a snotty display. "I do not need to prove anything to some pointy eared freak. I'll stay right here with my new master. That's right; I'd rather hang around Sir Ugly then with elf-man."

"I think he needs an attitude adjustment." Rurik exclaimed, drawing his axe near to the dragon. In return, the misbehaving lizard bit out at the shining metal. A quick zap filled the room as a jolt of electricity coursed through the dragon, knocking it into a shock induced sleep.

I opened up the cage door and lifted the heavy creature out of his confinement. Jillian had a skeptical look on her face, obviously worried about something. "With the dragon in his current state, there is no way that we can use him to overthrow Boneheimer. We are going to have to get out of town soon and think of a new plan. Tint, you bring that dragon along with us. He will have to serve as your familiar until we find a way to restore him to his original strength."

I was busy gently rubbing under the dragon's chin. He was acting just like a kitten. "I think I'll name him Sparks." I stated. The other heroes laughed at the suggestion, but I knew one wasn't happy. I shuddered in agony as I felt Sparks dig his claws into me. "If you don't like it, I could easily let Tagorus name you." I said. The dragon peeked open his eye, glaring at the elf. Soon his claws retracted, leaving nice spots of red along my arm. We were off to a great start to a beautiful friendship.

The joyful gathering was soon drawn silent by a loud banging on the door. "Surrender now, resistance fighters, or we will kill you." The voice sounded exactly like the shopkeeper for some odd reason.

"How did they find us? Deanna, did they follow you?" Jillian demanded as she pulled out her sword. It looked like we weren't going to be giving up without a fight.

Suddenly, a low chuckle sounded from Sparks. It dawned on us that we were in serious trouble. The dragon had been under Boneheimer's control and had given away our location. I was sure that I was going to get blamed for this if we got out of here alive.

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_A/N: I would like to introduce you to a character that is going to provide most of the comedy in the story. I hope that you will grow attached to Sparks, even though the little blighter has put the heroes in a tough position. Five chapters down, who knows how many to come. Thanks for reading and please review._


	6. Party Divided

DD Tag Along

_Chapter 6: Party Divided_

_A/N: I have only one question before I start this next chapter. In the DD movie, did the Dwarf ever have a name? I don't remember anyone saying his name, but then again he didn't play all that important of role. Thanks to anyone who can answer this for me._

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**The **door was the only thing separating us from Boneheimer's soldiers. From the looks of it, the door wouldn't be holding for much longer. Rurik and Gabriel were bracing themselves and a table against the door, but to no avail. "Are there any other ways out of here?" Jillian asked in a voice that trembled with fear. I had never heard her be so afraid.

There were only a couple of other occupants in the room, each one confirming our worst fears. This building had only one way out and that was currently under siege. Everyone was readying their weapons, but looked very unwilling to face what was coming. Only now did I understand the fear that Boneheimer could cast over people.

Sparks was still chuckling in his maniacal delight at our plight. I couldn't believe that it was all my fault for bringing the wretched creature into the group. In anger, I snatched up the dragon by the scruff of his neck, bearing the pain from where his claws flailed away at my arms in protest. I turned the copper reptile so that I could look into his eyes. They were a dark black in color, but they showed a flicker of wisdom and inner struggle.

"What is wrong with you? Aren't you supposed to be the protector of Dondoria? You are on the side of good, fighting against Boneheimer, so why betray people loyal to your cause?" Pure emotion filled my words as I ruthlessly shook the still struggling dragon. Sparks stopped his protesting momentarily to snarl at me. Once again, his eyes appeared to betray his outward emotions.

"Tint! The jewel!" Jillian called out as she tossed me the small gem. I caught the tiny jewel and turned back to Sparks. A look of fearful understanding crossed his face as I brought the gem against his forehead. A brief flash of light filled the room as the jewel melted into the dragon's scales.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from the door as the outsiders managed to break it down. A mad scramble ensued as Gabriel and Rurik hurled themselves at the nearest enemies. From where I was, I couldn't see much of what was happening. Then something went flying across the room and into the opposite wall. A resounding thud echoed through the room as Rurik fell to the floor, no longer moving.

Gabriel was showing incredible resilience as the four armed man pummeled her with a series of punches. A dark trickle of blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth. Gabriel attempted to throw some punches of her own, but they were easily cast aside. Things weren't looking good as a dozen or so other beasts, creatures, and modified humanoids came rushing into the building.

I watched in horror as one of the other people was jumped on by a red spike covered demon. The sight was nauseating as the demon ripped off the man's arm with his teeth. The demon enjoyed the man's screams of agony for a few seconds before biting for the neck.

All around me, horribly one sided battles were being fought. Gabriel had been overcome by the four armed man, one strong punch sending her to unconsciousness. Tagorus managed to fire off a couple of arrows before a thrown knife imbedded itself into his shoulder. Jillian was standing amid three bodies belonging to the enemies, searching out another opponent. Suddenly, a strong black beam coursed its way through the combatants, nailing right into the unsuspecting paladin and knocking her off her feet.

I readied my sword, waiting for any of the attacking creatures to turn their attention on me. None of the creatures appeared to want to pay any attention to me. The same went for Deanna. I had no idea why nothing was attacking either of us. The last of the other patrons fell before the three eyed woman, who had been the source of the magic beam. Deanna looked over at me with a confused look. She obviously didn't understand the situation any better than I did.

Boneheimer's troops looked back and forth between each other. I took the opportunity to move between the freaks and Deanna. "Got anything that can get us out of here?" I whispered to her as the enemies appeared to engage in an eight way game of rock paper scissors.

Deanna shook her head, "I only know a handful of spells, especially nothing strong enough offensively to take down one man, least of all eight."

A frown crossed my face as the red demon celebrated victory. The demon bared his fangs at me as he snarled, "The pretty lady is going to enjoy having her heart ripped out." I tried desperately not to picture the scene that the demon had just depicted.

Deanna gasped. "You'll have to get through my bodyguard first." She taunted.

I looked over my shoulder momentarily. "Thanks, give him a goal. If you want, I can move aside." I commented sarcastically.

"You know what I should do…?" Sparks stated from his corner. Then he burst out into a fit of laughter. Apparently, the jewel caused a transitional period that was the equivalent of getting high. The four armed guy picked up a stray glass and tossed it at the hysterical reptile. In response, Sparks attempted to blast the glass out of the air, but missed by a very wide margin. The next thing I saw was Sparks get knocked off his platform by the projectile. This brought a course of laughter from the Boneheimer troops. Apparently Sparks wasn't a very well respected part of Boneheimer's Dondorian forces.

The distraction was all I needed to regain my confidence. I pointed my sword at the demon. "Hey demon! You're making me bored! I don't want to have to wait much longer before I slay you." I don't know why I just said that. How incredibly stupid of me.

The demon was quick to return his attention to me. A quick snarl and the demon launched himself at me. I blocked the demon's first couple of swipes, then dodged to the left when I felt Deanna nudge me in that direction. I looked back just in time to see the sorceress land a heavy blow with a broken table leg over the demon's head. That signaled me to finish off the demon with a plunging strike through the beast's back.

A tiny round of applause sounded from Sparks as he pulled himself out from under a table. This brought another glass from the four armed man, this one with a lot more anger put into it. The enemies quickly conversed with each other before they all got set to charge. "Any more plans?" Deanna inquired nervously as she pulled me closer to her. I'm sure that this could count as a romantic situation under very different situations. I would have to remind her of this if we survived this.

"Maybe I can find some useful item in a big pile of treasure again." I joked half heartedly as the creatures began a slow advancement towards us.

Suddenly, a sharp, cold wind came whipping through the room. The creatures all stopped their advance and turned towards the door. Deanna and I exchanged befuddled glances. The cold wind continued, but was topped off with a dark purple and black aura belonging to the creature that entered into the building. "Boneheimer." Deanna whispered.

The creature was an off blue color with pieces of skin peeling away. His eyes were empty sockets unless you included the worms and other insects that crawled over his emotionless face. He was clothed in a black robe decorated with a ton of peering eyes. Clutched tightly in one arm was an ornate scepter topped off with a huge dragon skull.

Boneheimer casually looked over the bodies strewn throughout the building. "You better not have killed the rebels." He threatened the four armed freak. In response, the four armed freak collected the unconscious forms of Gabriel, Jillian, Tagorus, and Rurik, depositing them in a pile before Boneheimer. "What shall I do with these two, Lord Boneheimer?" He inquired, referring to myself and Deanna.

The Mindflayer Lich shrugged his shoulders. "I have no use for any more humans in my army. Take them out to the forest and dispose of them."

A few of the troops advanced on us as the others collected up the bodies, carrying them outside. I waved my sword in the faces of the advancing creatures, calling out pointless threats. In response to my threats, I was on the bottom of a four person pile as a result of a mass tackle. Deanna screamed as she was picked up and draped over the shoulder of the four armed man.

I felt a hand grasp the back of my shirt and pull me out from under the pile. The four armed guy dragged me across the floor, out towards the door. I looked back into the building to see Boneheimer talking with the three eyed woman. "Take the rebels to the lab." He ordered before vanishing into a cloud of black smoke.

A crowd had gathered around the building. They were cheering as they watched the captives be taken out one by one. I watched, dejected, as the others vanished into the crowd as part of the procession. Inside, I promised that I would find a way to rescue them before they received any genetic modification. I gagged slightly as I was tugged harshly by the brute. "Off we go." He said proudly as he dragged Deanna and me through the alleys. At the doorway of the building, Sparks appeared. His face showed that he was honestly upset.

**After **what seemed like an hour of being dragged across crude terrain, Fourdummy, as I had named the guy with four arms, dropped us to the ground. We were surrounded by the trees of that forest that I had come to find so familiar. Fourdummy had proven his intelligence by failing to remove anything that we had that could be used as a weapon. This included my swords and daggers. Yes, he is a dummy.

Fourdummy stood over us, cracking his knuckles in anticipation of carrying out his job. "Which one of you wants to go first?" He asked.

Deanna was sobbing, which she had been doing ever since the others were taken away. I felt the same way, knowing that this was turning out to be a horrible day. I still had some sensibility, which included my blind sense of stupidity and or bravery. Take a guess at which one took precedence on this occasion. "Try me first, or did those extra arms take away any manhood you ever had?" I taunted.

Deanna looked up at me in surprise as Fourdummy growled angrily. I was feeling extremely confident as I drew my sword and pointed it at my opponent. But, all hope left just as suddenly as he revealed that he held a sword in each of his arms. Deanna shook her head from her crouched position. "You sure know how to pick fights with guys who can kick your ass." Deanna commented as Fourdummy charged blindly towards me.

I closed my eyes as I awaited Fourdummy's flurry of attacks. I kept waiting but nothing happened. A gasp from behind me told me that something strange had occurred. I worked up the courage to take a peek. Fourdummy stood before me, his arms raised to deliver the blows, but was transfixed in his spot. His mouth was opened to show an expression of total surprise, but the effect was touched up a notch with a thin trickle of blood leaking out the corner of his lips. "What happened?" I whispered to Deanna.

"I don't know. He came running at you and suddenly stopped." Deanna had gotten to her feet and was observing Fourdummy from my side. At that second, Fourdummy fell face forward into the dirt. Protruding from his back were four feathered green arrows.

I looked around the clearing in the direction that the arrows must have come from. Through the trees I could barely make out a shape approaching. Two sets of eyes glowed eerily through the darkness that the leaves overhead cast. "Who's there?" I demanded.

"You were right Sparks, Tint can be really dense at times." Fido commented as he pushed aside a few stray vines with his bow. Sparks nodded his head in agreement from his perch atop Fido's horned head, "But he does have that blind sense of insanely stupid bravado that suits him perfectly."

"Look, thanks for the rescue and everything, but we need to get back to Dondoria to rescue our friends." I stated bluntly. But, there was something that struck me as odd. "Wait… Sparks is good and the two of you know each other. What is going on here?"

"Sparks returned to our side when you placed the jewel back into his forehead. Then he came to search out me. We've got the entire resistance ready to mount an attack against Dondoria and free your comrades." Fido quickly explained as he beckoned for us to follow him and Sparks as they headed back the way they came.

I looked over at Deanna, who merely shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just as much in the dark as you are." She stated, following after the Centaur and Dragon. I had little choice but to follow her.

Fido skillfully tracked his way along some nearly indistinguishable trail, leading us through the maze of tree trunks and branches. It only took a few minutes and we were out of the forest. Off in the distance, Dondoria formed a menacing blotch on the horizon. I guessed that the city was at least a two hours hike away. But, this conclusion appeared meaningless compared to the scene before me.

Fido had been right. The entire resistance had gathered, forming into one huge unit. There were all sorts of creatures, numbering in the thousands. A vast array of siege weaponry was being hauled along by some very powerful looking Orcs. Deanna had stopped beside me and was brought speechless by the impressive show of might. Sparks surprised me by coming out of nowhere and landing on my shoulder, whispering into my ear, "Ready to go to war?"

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_A/N: War? What am I thinking? Please tell me if this chapter ended up being a little messed up. I just don't feel like I did this chapter right. Thanks for taking the time to read this and please evaluate._


	7. War Tactics

DD Tag Along

_Chapter 7: War Tactics_

_A/N: A couple of interesting points have been raised. Now that I think about it, Tint (the character) suddenly appears to be useless. He's only killed two creatures before and has yet to show any extraordinary abilities. Here he is, thrust into the middle of an all out war of unexplainable importance. I'll have to think of something that will set him above any other ordinary fighter._

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**All **around me, soldiers were psyching themselves up for the battle. Burly humans exchanged grunts as they sharpened their blades. Elven archers filled their quivers with tons of arrows. Healers of every race readied medical kits to use on the field of battle. Orcs emptied keg after keg of soothing ale. A group of female warriors got in some extra practice warding off the advancements of the male resistance fighters. The scene looked just like a medieval movie.

Fido was leading us through the ranks of soldiers towards a tent set up in the center of the army. Sparks had taken a perch on Deanna's shoulder. I overheard him making some comment that he could turn into a human and woo her. Shortly thereafter, Sparks had found a new location on my shoulder.

There were a few soldiers garrisoned before the tent's entrance. They immediately moved aside when they spotted Fido approaching. "These be my pets." Sparks told the guards when they refused entrance for Deanna and me. We were quickly admitted.

The interior of the tent was very simple. The only decorations were a table with a map atop of it and a large regal throne. Perched on the throne was a very ancient looking, gray haired man. He wore a simple red robe lined with a gold trim. Atop his head a jeweled crown sat.

Sparks quickly threw himself to the ground and began bowing, "My lord, I am finally free of Boneheimer's control, thanks to these two and their friends who were captured. I am in debt to them."  
I glanced over at Deanna, who was bowing before the old man. I took it as a hint to follow her lead. This must be the old king of Dondoria sitting before us. "Rise." He ordered in a pleasant voice. The two of us slowly returned to a standing position, awaiting the king's next words.

Fido had taken up a position to the king's right. The Centaur leaned over to the king and commented, "These are the two newer members of Jillian's group." The king nodded in understanding, but suddenly his expression turned to one of concern. "Boneheimer has captured Jillian and her group? But, they are our strongest adventurers. Is this true?" The king directed his last question to me.

I nodded my head silently. The king drew in a sharp intake of breath as he got up from his seat. I watched as the king began to pace from side to side of the tent, working up a mental sweat. The king stopped for a moment and turned back to me, "At least tell me that you were seriously outnumbered by super powered enemies." I nodded my head in agreement. "That makes things somewhat better. All we need is to defeat Boneheimer by outnumbering his evil forces. That shouldn't be hard, because we have almost ten thousand men."

"Uhm, sir?" A soldier poked his head into the tent, "Boneheimer has sent out his own army. You may want to come take a look at this." A sudden feeling of dread filled my stomach as the occupants of the tent emptied outside to join the other soldiers. Each and every soldier had a frightened look across their faces.

I looked in the direction of Dondoria and gasped at the sight. The green field that had been surrounding Dondoria had turned black with a dense black cloud. Inside of the cloud, figures were materializing, taking the shape of warriors. I estimated that there had to be at least forty thousand figures. "I think we're screwed." I whispered to Deanna, who meekly shook her head in agreement.

The king shoved his way through the soldiers and up to the front rank. My instincts told me to follow him. Maybe he was going to give an inspirational speech. A thought popped into my head that scared me. What if the king called me to make the speech for him? Thank god I memorized William Wallace's "Freedom!" speech from Braveheart.

The resistance fighters had grown deathly silent. Deanna, Fido, Sparks, and I had followed the king and we now stood before those who were about to face death. They did not show fear on their young faces, but instead a determination and maturity that should never be forced upon anyone. These fighters were ready to give their lives in a fight that spelled certain doom.

The king nodded his head in approval as he overlooked his forces. "Today, we will undertake in the single most important event that has ever faced a generation. I know that we are outnumbered but that is not means to give up hope. We want to take back what is ours. We will not be defeated! All we have to do is defeat Boneheimer and his forces will fall!"

A mumble of skepticism filled the crowd. "How are we going to do that?" Someone demanded from deep within the forces.

The king was unaltered by the question. "I have arranged a special strike force that will sneak into Dondoria using the same secret underground tunnel that I used for my escape. Once inside, they will head to the inner catacombs and find the prison. There, they will free all of our comrades and will attack from the inside. All we need to do is distract Boneheimer with a battle out here so that he is unaware of what travels beneath his feet."  
I heard Deanna gulp nervously at the mention of special strike force. I knew exactly what it was that was upsetting her. The king had chosen us to be part of that team. I could only assume that the other members were going to be Sparks and Fido. "At least we won't be up here on the battlefield." I commented to Deanna.

"That's right. Instead, we are going to sneak through catacombs infested with Drow and Mindflayers and Dryders and Formians and Demons and Fiends and who knows what else." Came Deanna's sarcastic reply.

"Well, when you put it that way, everything seems bad." I retaliated with my own sarcastic remark.

A quick glare from Fido silenced us before we could continue our banter. Meanwhile, the king was putting the final touches on his speech. "Remember who you are fighting for. Your family, your friends, and your freedom. Plus, everyone dies sooner or later. Might as well go out in a blaze of glory." Maybe his speech could use a few helpful pointers, but it had the desired effect.

The soldiers let out a loud cheer as the king turned to us. "Can you guys dig a tunnel in less than a day?" He asked. Yup, we're screwed.

**The **sun was coming up over the treetops. The previous day had been filled with the two sides engaging in a verbal exchange of blows, but nothing physical. Today would prove to be different. The king, who I learned was named Lord Balticus, had scoured his brain for some alternate way of getting his strike team inside Dondoria. The final plan that he came up with didn't turn out to be much better then his original idea.

Word was sent to Boneheimer's forces that we were surrendering. As a gift, we were offering a large wooden horse. Don't ask how he knew about Greek mythology. I shook my head as the horse neared the front line of enemy soldiers. "This is never going to work." I whispered to Sparks, who had found a permanent perch on my shoulder. Apparently, the little curser had been serious when he declared me his master. Now I was stuck with his insults.

"No offence to my former master, but he is just as stupid as you to think up of this. No offence to you either." Sparks joked.

We watched the enemy soldiers examine the base of the horse, curiosity drawing them in. Sweat dripped from our foreheads as even more men came closer. One warrior, who appeared to be the leader of this particular rank, made some sort of announcement that we couldn't hear from our position. Soon afterwards, a few other soldiers produced lit torches.

"This can't turn out well." Deanna said. Her voice was full of nervous excitement. Just as she had said it, the soldiers brought their torches up to the legs of the horse, setting the wood on fire. A sudden explosion pounded through the air as splinters flew in every direction, impaling the nearby troops.

"Whose idea was it to fill the horse with the magical powder of the East?" Fido asked, a bemused grin crossing his face. The four of us were standing atop a hill not far from the battlefield. What? You thought we would be inside the horse? What kind of an idiot would hide inside a mobile powder keg?

I raised my hand meekly, responding to Fido's inquiry. I called this tactic the Trojan Virus. Boneheimer's forces were in disarray, attempting to recollect themselves from the devastation that had visited them. The immediate area near the blast had been wiped clear of the enemy forces. The fallout of splinters reached out across the entire line of enemies.

This was the perfect time to act. The resistance forces came charging in, making full use of the confusion. The numbers had been handicapped to provide a fairer chance for us to win. Arrows came plummeting into the field of frantic soldiers, taking the lives of hundreds of unlucky targets.

The explosion was also the signal for the strike force to head in. At the sound of the explosion all of the defending forces turned their attention to the source. The battle had started, drawing the exterior forces to meet the attack with everything they had. This left the base of the other sides of the wall completely defenseless.

Fido aimed his bow at a watch tower atop the wall. The Centaur launched his arrow, which imbedded itself in the wooden roof of the guard area. The arrow had a long rope trailing behind it. We now had access inside the town. All we needed to do was climb the thirty foot high wall using only an arrow to hold us up.

Deanna raced up to the rope, giving it a sharp tug. Luckily, it held. The blond sorcerer began to pull herself up the rope. About a third of the way up, she stopped. "Tint, quit looking up my skirt." She ordered before continuing her climb. How did she always know what I was doing?

I averted my eyes, but the same couldn't be said for Sparks. Fido had his bow pulled tight, ready to fire at any intruders who discovered our infiltration attempts. Unfortunately, Fido wouldn't be joining us on the inside. He was unable to climb the rope, so he would be joining the battle that was happening on the other side of the city. I wanted to say something to him, but nothing came to mind. Fido saw my difficulty and supplied his own encouragement, "Don't worry about me, just take care of yourself and Deanna. This entire war depends on you two." With that, the green Centaur galloped along the wall, shooting arrows at a group of mutants who came around the corner.

Deanna had climbed over the top of the wall and now beckoned for me to follow her. I lifted myself off the ground and began the vertical trek. Hand over hand; I slowly inched my way closer and closer to the top. After what seemed like forever, I finally found my self on solid ground at the top of the wall. "You sure are out of shape." Sparks commented from my shoulder.

"It would have been easier if I didn't have to pull you up with me." I shot back.

During my climb, Deanna had pried open the trap door that led to the interior of the tower. An old rickety ladder descended into the darkness below. "You go first." Deanna suggested, nervously glancing along the wall to see if anyone had noticed our arrival.

I took hold of the top rung of the ladder and swung myself into the dark chasm. A small flicker of light illuminated the bottom of the ladder. I quickly slid down the ladder and onto the stone floor. There seemed to be something odd going on here. It was too quiet. Not a single noise echoed through the inner halls of Dondoria.

Deanna joined me at the bottom level, collecting the torch that had been lighting the ladder. "It's too quiet." She stated as she peered down the three paths that extended out from the base of the tower. At this point I was convinced that Deanna had tuned into my telepathic output feed.

"Which way should we go to get to the prison?" I asked Sparks. He had to have some sort of knowledge about the inside of the town.

"What do I look like, a map?" Sparks replied sarcastically, sniffing the air around him.

Deanna rolled her eyes, "I know a good mapmaker that uses dragon scales to make maps." This threat had the desired effect. Sparks quickly instructed us on which path to take.

Deanna and I followed the dragon's lead as he directed us into the innermost bowls of Dondoria. We passed by a room full of coffins, another room with a large pool of liquid with brains floating around, and a tunnel that led to a place with a fiery red glow. I had a pretty good guess that I knew where that path went.

"Take your next left." Sparks instructed. We turned the corner and found ourselves blocked by a large steel door. "Past here is the prison." Sparks explained as he took a short flight off my shoulder and up to the roof. There, Sparks tugged violently on a loose brick. Suddenly the steel door swung open. Our dragon friend must have triggered the switch.

Sure enough, this room was the prison. The tunnel stretched further than I could see, each side lined with cells. A small chair faced the door, obviously the warden's position. Currently, the seat was vacant except for a large key placed on the seat. "This is too easy." I commented as I took hold of the key.

Deanna nodded her head as she walked over to the nearest cage. "This one's empty. You take that side, I'll get this one."

I moved myself along the row of cells, peering into the dreary holding areas. The floors were lined with the bones of deceased prisoners. In some cells, the bodies were still fresh. "This is disgusting." I commented as I moved on to my next cell.

"Is that you, Tint?" A voice asked from inside the cell I came up to. The voice caught me by surprise, causing me to jump back. A figure in the cell stirred and approached the bars. Hands reached out, wrapping around the iron bars as a face became illuminated by the light. I recognized the dwarf immediately. It was Rurik!  
"Rurik! We've come to rescue you guys!" I stated excitedly as I frantically attempted to insert the key into the lock. Deanna had come up beside me and lifted her torch to illuminate the rest of the cell. Sure enough, the other heroes were in the cell.

"It's a trap! Boneheimer knows that you two were coming! Get out of here before he comes for you!" Rurik exclaimed, slapping my hand away from the key.

"Too late." A raspy sounding voice breathed from behind us. I nervously began to turn around, knowing that I was about to stare into the face of death. A new wave of the smell of death filled the prison. I could see the black aura before even completing a half turn. Decaying tendrils extended into my field of vision. There was Boneheimer, sitting in the chair, blocking our only escape route.

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_A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter. I was surprised by the amount of feedback that I've received over the past few days. Thanks a lot for the reviews. I'll try desperately to improve this story more with every chapter I continue to write._


	8. Second Conquest

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 8: Second Conquest_

_A/N: I have finally figured out a reason behind why Boneheimer has taken such interest in Tint and Deanna. It's a bit of a stretch but please stay with me. This twist is going to cause a lot of problems for some of the characters. I'm still not sure where this idea came from but I believe it's a stroke of genius. Please leave your opinions after you've finished reading this._

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**Boneheimer **was a hideous sight before us. His flesh was falling off of his body, but was being quickly replenished by replacement skin being woven underneath. One tentacle fell off, flopping on the ground in agony. Just as soon as the tentacle quit squirming a new tentacle had grown in its place. It was sickening.

Deanna had slid behind me, cowering from the devious Mindflayer Lich. I held one hand behind my back, offering her the key to unlock our friends. I felt the key leave my hands as Deanna worked up a tiny bit of courage to speak to the undead ruler of this world. "What do you want with us?" She asked in a worried tone.

Boneheimer chuckled slightly, a sound that was even more frightening then his appearance. The voice was hollow, lacking any essence of life behind it. "I am surprised that you two never figured it out before. Why would I let my opponents escape unless I had larger plans for them? Thanks to you, I now have the rebels in my hand, ready to be crushed. But there is something else about the two of you that is different than any of the others. Something strange that I cannot place my finger on."

I gulped nervously as Boneheimer raised himself out of his seat, slowly approaching me. He brought his face right up close to mine, his breath reeking of death. "Maybe you will tell me the secret about you and your beautiful counterpart." He suggested, placing a threatening tentacle on my shoulder.

"Go fornicate yourself." I replied. I realized the stupidity of my response shortly before hitting the wall on the opposite side of the room. The wall was unkind, not giving the slightest in comfort, instead delivering a sharp jolt of pain as my head crashed against the wall. The world around me became really blurry and was spinning.

My senses sharpened immediately when I heard Deanna scream out. I jumped up to my staggering feet and turned to see what had happened. Boneheimer had wrapped a tentacle around Deanna's neck, lifting her off the ground. Deanna was squirming, desperately trying to escape the choking grasp of the Mindflayer Lich. "Maybe if you will not tell me, she might." Boneheimer commented with a gratified grin as he tightened his grip.

"Get your rotten hands off of her!" I ordered. I pulled out my sword, pointing the blade at Boneheimer. The Mindflayer looked over at me with an amused look on his face as I charged forward. I swung out at the tentacle that had Deanna restrained, desperately attempting to lob off the flailing part.

I felt a harsh sting cross my face as Boneheimer struck out with another free tentacle. My skin burned intensely, forcing me to stop in my tracks to cringe at the attack. Boneheimer reached out with the tentacle again, this time wrapping the slithering thing around my waist. The evil creature proceeded to pull me up close to his face again, wrapping more tentacles around me.

"We sure are the little pest. I could easily snap both of your necks, but where would the fun be if I did that? It is obvious that you have feelings for this girl. It would be a shame if I killed her, don't you agree?" Boneheimer smirked as he forced me to turn my head and look at Deanna.

Her face was turning blue and her struggles were becoming weaker. She couldn't last much longer. I had to do something to save her. "OK, I'll tell you our secret, but on one condition. You have to spare her life." I offered, disgusted that I was going to sell out my world.

A frightened look crossed Deanna's face as she realized what I was about to do. "No, Tint! Don't do it. I'm not worth it!" She gasped out. Boneheimer responded to her outburst by tightening his grip on her until her head rolled over into unconsciousness. He was obviously enjoying putting me in such a compromising position.

"I agree to your terms. This girl will live. Hurry up and tell before I go back on my generous decision." Boneheimer responded, loosening his grip on Deanna a tiny amount, letting her be able to breathe in her unconscious state.

"Sorry." I whispered, apologizing to all of the people I was about to condemn to Boneheimer's terrorizing rule. "Deanna and I come from the future. The portal is located inside of the pub in the town on the opposite side of the forest."

A groan of disappointment came from my friends inside of their cage. I looked over apologetically, feeling horrible for what I had just done. I was relieved slightly when I noticed that Sparks was still working on unlocking the cage. If my friends were free, then maybe, just maybe, we could slay Boneheimer before he took off to conquer my time period.

Meanwhile, Boneheimer was pondering what I had said. "Interesting. The future, you say? That was a mighty brave decision that you made. Not everyone would betray their entire world for one unimportant girl. I will let you and your friends live." Boneheimer turned, heading towards the entrance to the prison area. He still had Deanna clutched tightly in his tentacle.

"Hey! What about Deanna? Aren't you going to let her go?" I demanded.

Boneheimer emitted his frightening chuckle again. "And give up my trump card? If I take this girl with me, I guarantee that I have a safe escape. Plus, if what you tell me is a lie, I kill her." Boneheimer's evil laughter echoed through the halls as he headed off towards new worlds to conquer.

I collapsed to my knees, the horrible realization that I had put Deanna in such a bad position, weighing me down. I felt somebody walk up beside me. I turned my head slightly to see who had joined me. It was Jillian. The others were making their way out of the cell, glad to be free. But there was the sorrow of knowing that Deanna was in serious trouble. I cringed slightly as somebody cuffed me across the back of the head. It was Sparks, of course, who had delivered the slap. "Dumb ass." He accused.

Jillian put a consoling hand on my shoulder. "You did the right thing." She said, but I didn't believe her, even in the slightest.

"How can you be so sure? I saved one person at the expense of billions. How can you say that was the right thing to do?" I demanded.

Jillian was unable to supply an answer. She didn't know what the positive side, if any, was to Boneheimer's new quest to my world. At least we were safe, momentarily. But, there was still the battle raging outside. Sparks was quick to suggest that we get out of here and join the fighting. We all agreed, half-heartedly, and collected the stray belongings of the party.

We wound our way through the twisting tunnels of the underground of Dondoria. Turn after turn, we past by mysteriously empty rooms. It was almost like Boneheimer had taken his entire army with him. Even the armories were empty. Things were not looking good for modern times.

The group kept running, searching for a way out of this twisted place. I stopped my run, spotting a faint glimmer of sunlight from down one side tunnel. "I think I found a way out!" I shouted as I turned down the tunnel.

The tunnel slanted slightly upwards, leading to higher ground. The light continued to grow brighter as I neared the source. The air was growing more breathable. Soon, I found myself faced with a ladder leading upwards, just like the tower that I had used to enter this town. But, that time was with Deanna and she was gone now.

Sparks and the others were just a short bit behind me as I began to climb up the ladder. I found myself at the top of the ladder and climbed onto the surface that was above. I looked around at my surroundings and found myself on top of one of the towers. There were no sounds of pitched battle, so I walked over to the railing and looked out across the field. I was greeted with a large cheer from the resistance soldiers, who were already celebrating their victory.

I was joined by my friends, who were immediately taken aback by the shear massive size of the gathered troops. "What happened to Boneheimer's forces?" Tagorus asked.

Gabriel nodded her horned head. "When we were being dragged into the prison, we were paraded in front of his troops. There had to be at least thirty thousand men." The half fiend elf explained.

I uttered a nervous laugh, thinking back to my plan to enter Dondoria. I knew that I had taken out a vast majority of the forces, but that still left a whole bunch still alive. I shrugged my shoulders in a carefree manner, which was really just an act. "I guess that Boneheimer took everyone with him. My time period is so screwed."

The resistance forces quickly moved in, taking back control of the entire city. They found the streets practically empty, save for a few hiding peasants. Shortly after the troops' conquest of the town was complete, the king summoned us to join him in his throne room.

We found the king basking in his returned glory. A trail of servants was supplying the ruler with a constant supply of ale. The king noticed our approach and beckoned for us to join him for a drink. "Ah, yes. The heroes who defeated Boneheimer and forced him to flee. Well done! Boneheimer will never dare to show his face in these parts again."

Jillian bowed respectfully as she approached the king. "We have a few problems that need to be dressed immediately. Boneheimer has gone to the future era and had taken all of his men with him."

The king merely shrugged off this piece of news. "Big deal. The future does not affect us in any way. We should bask in this glory and do nothing."

"But, my Lord!" Rurik exclaimed as he joined Jillian, "Boneheimer has taken one of our friends with him!"

Once again, the king dismissed this information, looking casually over our group. "So he took the girl from the future back to her time. She is an acceptable casualty." With this announcement, the king took a big sip from his goblet. Is it just me, or is this guy a real jackass? How can he be an improvement over Boneheimer?

I had enough of the king. I pointed an angry finger at him, stating in a threatening voice, "We have to go do something, if not to save Deanna, then to save this time period. In my time era, we have guns and bombs and airplanes and tanks and nukes. Give Boneheimer access to these weapons and he's going to come back more powerful than ever. I can guarantee that we won't stand a chance against these weapons."

The king considered my words of wisdom. Suddenly, an interesting idea came to his mind. "That settles it! Tint will go to his time period and get his hands on these weapons, supplying us with enough firepower to destroy Boneheimer once and for all!"

"Why me?" I asked. "Why not send the rest of the group with me?"  
The king smiled. "I am surprised that your friends did not tell you about the negative effects of the portal. For some reason, only people from your era and evil creatures can travel through it unharmed."

I looked to my friends for support. Both Jillian and Tagorus nodded their heads in agreement. "What are the chances of the portal allowing evil things through unharmed?" I asked, my voice filled with sarcasm. I was really not liking this entire war. Maybe if I had just stayed at home instead of listening to Deanna. But then I would have been thrust into this war, but completely caught by surprise. What is the saying? Screwed if you do, screwed if you don't.

Arrangements were quickly made to arrange to transport me to the town that held the portal. I was to leave in just a few hours, by way of Pegasus. All this information came flying at me, causing my head to hurt from overload. The only thing that I understood was that I was going to be thrust into a very dangerous world, all by myself.

My friends had all came by to have a small farewell party for me. They all were sure that I was heading to my doom. Jillian was the first to offer her words of wisdom. "Good luck in your time. Try to find people who are going to stay loyal to you and fight against Boneheimer with every ounce of strength in your body. If Boneheimer returns here, we will avenge your death."

Rurik was next up. "I have a favor to ask of you. On your return can you bring some of your futuristic ale? May need it for a celebration."

Tagorus stepped in as Rurik joined Jillian. "I am sorry that I never got to know you better, Tint. The only thing that I can say to you is repeat something that Deanna told me once. It was during the time when you were stuck in the Kobold Cave and we were looking for you. 'Tint can be very resourceful. He's the only one I know who can screw up something easy and blow it out of proportion. But somehow, he always manages to find a way out of it.' I just hope that you can pull off some more of magic."

I was starting to become a little emotional, but my impatience was growing. I wanted to get out of here and do something. But, I was still afraid of what waited me on the outside. Gabriel came up and offered me her piece of advice. "Do not fight anything smaller than you. You have bad luck against midgets." Stupid Kobolds.

The last of my well wishers took her leave. Fido and Sparks had gone off to inform the troops about the state of the war. The forces needed to know that the war wasn't over yet. If I ended up failing, they would be required to continue the fight. Failing. The thought of it scared me.

A messenger arrived to inform me that my transportation had arrived. The young boy led me through the streets of Dondoria towards a large stage in the center of town. Perched on top of the stage was a stunning white horse with a pair of beautiful feathery wings. The messenger bid me farewell as he disapeared down a side street.

I carefully and calmly approached the Pegasus, holding up my hands to show that I meant the creature no harm. I had no clue if this animal was peaceful or trained. For all I knew, the king had captured this creature in the wild and was finally releasing it. I knew that I didn't want to be riding this creature when it decided to break free.

To my surprise, the Pegasus let me approach it without even flinching. I noticed that the creature was standing on the stage on its own free will. No chains or ropes held the creature at bay. I nervously placed my hands on the winged horse's back, readying myself to mount the magnificent creature. The second I sat down the Pegasus bolted up into the air and off towards my destination. I was about to find out if I could hold my own in my own twisted world.

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_A/N: I guess I'm taking another idea from Inuyasha. Return to present times for a couple of chapters. It will be interesting to see how Boneheimer is going to try to take over the world. Hope you enjoyed this chapter._


	9. Hidden Friends

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 9: Hidden Friends_

_A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out. I was going through a phase where I really didn't have it in me to write anything. I think that I'm out of it now, so here's the ninth chapter._

_As we last left off, oh so long ago, Deanna was captured by the evil Mindflayer/Lich known as Boneheimer. Boneheimer learned about Tint and Deanna being from another time period and was intrigued. He took Deanna to our time period in hopes of conquering yet another time period. Tint was then ordered by the king of the past to go back to his time and defeat Boneheimer. Unfortunately, he was going to have to do it alone._

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**"Thanks **for the ride." I said as I dismounted from the magnificent Pegasus. I ran my hand along the winged horse's back, giving the creature a friendly pat good-bye. The Pegasus snorted in reply, flapping its immense wings as it started to fly away. Before long, the Pegasus was out of sight.

I looked around at the town where the Pegasus had dropped me off. It was the original town where I had arrived in, but the town was in horrible condition. Nearly every building had been burned down. The bodies of the mauled citizens scattered the streets. It was almost like a war zone. The really sad thing about this was that I had caused all of this destruction. Was it really worth it to save Deanna?

There was one single building that still remained mostly intact. It was the tavern that held the path between time periods. Apparently, Boneheimer had felt the need to keep the pathway back in time open for his return. There I was, chasing after an insane creature out to rule the world. My friends were right, I was crazy.

I cautiously approached the door to the tavern, drawing out my sword and shield. Boneheimer might have left some of his troops back to guard the portal. I didn't want to get killed before I even got back to my time. I tapped the door with my foot and the door swung in with ease. It was almost as if someone was inviting me in.

Nervously, I crept into the dark building. Shadows covered nearly every inch of the interior, providing perfect hiding places for anyone who could be waiting for me. I could see where the section of wall that served as the cover to the portal should have been. The wall had been cleanly blown away. All I could see was the dark tunnel stretching into the depths of the earth. "That can't be good." I muttered.

"About time you showed up." A familiar voice stated from the shadows near the tunnel. I immediately took up a defensive position behind my shield. "Man, I look like a little pussy. Big tough dragon getting turned into a little flying rat. The gods and goddesses better reward me for coming to help you."

I shook my head in amazement. It was obvious who it was that had come here to join me. I lowered my shield and smiled at the tiny copper dragon that had been looking in the mirror. "Hey Sparks."

"Put that shield back up! I'd rather look at my own scrawny form than your ugly mug. Just kidding you, Master Tint." Sparks showed his reptilian smile as he flew over to my shoulder, taking up his perch.

I gave my pet dragon protector a friendly scratch under his chin. "What are you doing here? Didn't the king say that the portal wouldn't let in anyone other than evil creatures and people from my own time period?"

"You believe that crock of garbage?" Sparks chuckled slightly. "The king was lying to you. He told you that so that the others wouldn't come with you. The king plans to destroy this portal as soon as you travel through it. That way he can forget about Boneheimer and the future."

"And what if I refuse to go?" I asked; angered that the king was going to betray the very person who had won the war for him. It wasn't as if the people were going to forget the destruction that Boneheimer had visited upon them.

Sparks pointed a claw back outside. "You are surrounded. The king ordered his private assassins to take care of you if you refuse to go. Plus, you would be abandoning Deanna and I know you like her."

"This king is sure an evil person." I commented, risking a glance out the door. A dark figure quickly darted out of sight. Sparks just had to be right for once.

Sparks nodded his head sadly. "I do not know which one was worse, Boneheimer or the king. What this country really needs is a new king. You might even be one of the top runners to succeed the king because of your battle heroics."

"I guess that gives me another reason to defeat Boneheimer and come back to this time period. Now, let's get going." I calmly stated as I entered the tunnel. I could hear hushed footsteps follow me as I made my way down the tunnel. The assassins were following me to make sure I went all the way through to my time and stayed there.

The footsteps followed me relentlessly. The assassins were obviously not trying to keep their mission a secret. I felt a little nervous and sped up my pace. In reply, the following footsteps matched my pace and surpassed it. It wouldn't be long until they caught up to me.

I took a glance over my shoulder. I could just barely make out the faint outline of a solitary figure. Suddenly, my foot caught itself on something lying on the ground. I stumbled, falling to the floor in a heap. I pulled myself back up to my knees, but stopped there. My hands had come across the object that had knocked me off my feet. I held up the object close to my face and tried to identify it in the darkness.

The approaching footsteps had stopped not very far from where I was kneeling. I pulled myself back up to my feet, pocketing the mysterious object. Slowly, I began to continue my way along the dark tunnel. The following assassins once again began following me. I felt like I was being hunted.

Not long afterwards, I found myself at the base of the ladder. I looked up the length of the ladder and saw that the dumpster was no longer covering the entrance. I could see the sky overhead and was frightened by the sight. The air was a sickly green color, almost as if it had been poisoned.

Behind me, the assassins had stopped again. I turned around and looked back down the tunnel. "You guys are starting to piss me off! Why don't you come on out of those shadows and fight me like a man!" I yelled down the tunnel.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. It appeared as if the person was wearing a heavy cloak around their shoulders. I pointed my sword at the assassin and beckoned for the person to attack me. In response, the hunter held up an object in the air. It appeared to be a human head. The assassin tossed the head towards me. The head bounced along the ground and came to a stop face up at me. "That's one of the guys that the king hired to kill you!" Sparks announced.

I looked back and forth between the severed head and the cloaked assassin. Had this dark figure betrayed the king's orders and sided with me? "Who are you?" I asked, lowering my sword slightly to show that I was willing to be friendly.

The figure took a few steps towards me and into the tiny shimmer of light that was being emitted from the hole above me. My jaw dropped as I recognized my follower. I felt Sparks dive beneath my chain mail shirt in an attempt to hide. "Don't be scared of Gabriel. Remember, she's on our side."

Sparks quickly crept back into sight and beamed a goofy embarrassed smile. Even Gabriel smiled, a rare sight from the half fiend. "Found a couple of pests following you. Decided to squash them. Hope you don't mind."

"Not in the slightest." I looked past Gabriel and into the shadows. "Aren't the others with you?"

Gabriel shook her horned head in dismay. "I am afraid not. They did not want to make it an obvious act of rebellion against the king, so the others are off doing missions. Both Rurik and Jillian are out on holy crusades to recruit more soldiers for our world's defense. My brother has sworn to go find my father and slay him. So, I ended up being the only one available to come help you."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I take it you don't believe the king's statement that good creatures couldn't pass through this portal."

Gabriel raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I thought that you would have figured out that I am lawful evil in nature. Those portal restrictions would not apply to me."

"Welcome to my world then." I said with a slight chuckle. The fate of my time period rested on the hands of an evil half fiend, a wise-ass midget dragon, and a nerd who had killed a total of two opponents. I would be feeling confident if I was Boneheimer.

Sparks had taken off and was now perched at the top rung of the ladder to the outside world. His snout was directed up into the air, sniffing intently at the off-colored atmosphere. "Boneheimer is using his mind control gas again." Sparks noted, a hint of disgust in his voice as he turned his face away from the air.

Instantly after Sparks had smelled the air, I felt a sharp prick in the side of my neck. I looked over to see Gabriel remove a small glass needle from my neck. "Mind strengthening potion." She explained as she tossed away the empty container. I nodded my head in understanding, but suddenly started feeling light headed. Gabriel's clawed hands held me up as I almost fell over.

Gabriel proceeded to guide me up the ladder, forcing me out into the alleyway. I took a look around and gasped in disbelief. Nearly the entire city had been leveled. Only a few buildings remained even partially intact. I felt Sparks land on my shoulder, "I am sorry that you have to see this."

Suddenly, Gabriel pulled us down among the rubble of the library. "What the hell?" I asked as the fiend held a finger up to my lips. Gabriel pointed up to the sky, where a squadron of gigantic red dragons was patrolling the air. I heard Sparks growl jealously as he watched the full sized dragons pass out of sight. "This is going to make things fun." I commented sarcastically, picking myself up off the ground.

"Stupid Boneheimer and his big stupid dragons. I hate him." Sparks muttered, shaking a fist up at the sky. I nodded my head silently as I pressed my body up against the remaining section of the surrounding walls. For all I knew, we could be under watch. With the people of my time under Boneheimer's control, I doubted that I could trust anyone that I used to trust.

"Do you know of any good hiding places or where we might be able to learn about Boneheimer's location?" Gabriel asked as she unfolded her wings, giving the massive black extremities a brief stretch.

Nearly instantly after Gabriel stretched her wings a loud gunshot broke the silence. I watched in horror as a large hole was blasted through my friend's right wing. Gabriel screeched out in pain as she collapsed to the ground. I quickly rushed over to Gabriel's side, holding up my shield in the general direction of the shooter. "What was that?" The suffering fiend asked as she looked over at the smoking bullet imbedded in the wall.

"That would be our kind of archers." I explained, reaching into my pouch in search of something that could be helpful. My hand brushed against the object that I had found in the tunnel. I brought the object out into the light to better identify it. I could not believe my eyes. It was Deanna's healing stone. Gabriel's eyes grew huge as I held the stone against the tattered wing. A brief flash of light was emitted from the stone. When the light cleared, the wing was fully intact. "So that was how Deanna had healed that stab wound." I thought as I returned the stone to my pouch.

"Master…" Sparks whispered in a worried tone as he tugged lightly on my ear. I looked behind me and found myself staring down the barrel of a pistol. The holder of the gun turned out to be the leader of the punks who had jumped me. Out of the corner of my eye, I counted at least four other punks. "I see our nerd friend here finally decided to come out of hiding and he brought a lizard and a freak with him." This brought a chorus of laughter from the jerks.

"I take it that these are not friends of yours." Gabriel commented sarcastically as she was hauled up to her feet. I nodded my head in agreement. Now I counted a total of six punks. Only the leader held a weapon. I felt somewhat confident, even with the gun in my face. I was able to beat these guys on my own. "Hey, Gabby, I think that these are the guys who shot out your wing."

My suggestion had the desired effect. I heard a few screams of pain emitted as Gabriel slashed out. The leader's hand began to tremble as he witnessed the carnage that must be unfolding behind me. I took the opportunity to unsheathe one of my knives and drove the blade deep into the punk's chest. "Ironic, isn't it?" I whispered, a smile crossing my face as I got my revenge.

The sound of fleeing footsteps attracted my attention. I looked over to see one punk attempting to run away as Gabriel smashed in the head of the only other punk still standing. "Tint, kill him!" Gabriel yelled as she removed her mace from her victim.

I was about to give chase when the punk stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned around to reveal his chest had become a pincushion of arrows before collapsing to the ground. I was intrigued to find out who had killed the punk. I didn't have to wait long as a group of teenagers emerged from around the corner, bows in hand. "Hey there guys. Good to see you again." I greeted as I rushed towards my former D&D group.

_A/N: There we go. Once again, I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter done and out. I will try to keep on track and keep up with updates. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Peace out._


	10. Dance, Puppets, Dance!

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 10: Dance, Puppets, Dance!_

_A/N: You all have every reason to hate me for this long wait. It's just that I've been so incredibly busy lately. Turning 18 (legal age in Alberta) makes for some hectic weeks of celebration. Plus there was the wedding, school, drama, and soccer to do. I finally had some free time after I completed the script for our year end drama project, so I figured that I should get this done. So here it is. Oh, if anyone cares, I'm thinking about posting the play that I wrote because it's about player/character relationships._

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**The **look on my friends' faces was full of surprise. They looked at me, their mouths hanging open in disbelief. "Tint… is that you?" Joey asked, carefully approaching me. I barely was able to nod my head before Joey wrapped me up in a huge bear hug. Now, Joey was a huge guy. He played goalie for the high school hockey team. At least he did when there was a high school still standing.

"Where have you been? You've been gone for over a month and then all of this crap happened. Your parents were worried sick." Someone else asked.

"Wait. What do you mean were? They're still worried about me, aren't they?" I demanded. I was hoping that my gut feeling was wrong, but knowing how Boneheimer worked, my fears were confirmed. "Sorry Tint, they didn't make it past the initial invasion." Joey said, trying to sound consoling, but to no avail. The pain had already hit.

I felt myself sinking to the ground, desperately trying to hold back the tears that were eager to burst through. My fist slammed into the ground, the anger inside of me brimming over. "Damn it Boneheimer! I swear, the next time we meet, I will kill you!" I screamed out, my words becoming drowned out by the tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Who's Boneheimer?" A confused friend, Ashley the female wisecracker, asked.

I felt Sparks land on my shoulder, his rough scales feeling incredibly soothing as they brushed against my face. Anything friendly was coming as a good thing for me at this moment. On my other shoulder, Gabriel's clawed hand grasped tightly as she tried to explain the situation to my friends. "Boneheimer is the leader of this invasion. He, along with all of his forces as well as myself and the dragon, are from the era you know as one similar to your game of Dungeons and Dragons. In fact, that is where Tint has been for this past month, with us. Tint was sent back to his time by the king of our land to slay Boneheimer, making our time safe once again."

"Good luck." Ashley commented sarcastically, brushing her shoulder length auburn hair away from her face. Ashley had been my best female friend ever since the beginning of school. That was nearly twelve years ago. She had always been the most innocent person I had ever known. Now, she stood before me with the blood of fallen enemies staining her clothes.

I lifted my head to see my friends nodding their heads in understanding. I'm sure if the story wasn't coming from a half fiend, they wouldn't believe it. With the current circumstances, anything was possible. I felt someone helping me back up to my feat while saying, "Come with us Tint. We'll take you to our hideout." This was coming from Wesley, the third and final member of my D&D group, a rather nervous and shifty teen. I allowed myself to be helped along through the ruins as our ragtag group scurried towards safety.

The streets were lined with decaying bodies, many of them with their skulls ripped open. Boneheimer had personally demolished my hometown. All the more reason to swear vengeance. As we wound our way through the destroyed buildings, my friends filled us in on what exactly had happened.

It all started three days ago, coinciding with my meeting with Boneheimer in the dungeon. Everyone was carrying about their regular daily business. Suddenly, before anyone could react, this horrid looking creature began sweeping through the civilians, sucking out their brains. Women, even children, were treated as soldiers before the wrath of Boneheimer.

Not long after the terror began, the other creatures started pouring out of the portal. Thousands of undead creatures preying off of the few survivors. Orcs and goblins destroying the local police force, bullets bouncing harmlessly off of magical shields cast by demons. Dragons taking to the sky, turning the news helicopters into wreckage. It was horrendous.

Luckily for my friends, they were out of town at a Star Trek convention. Every television in the world bore the scenes of destruction. It wasn't long before they caught a ride back home with an army of regular citizens with rifles determined to stop the carnage before it continued with other towns. Unfortunately for this army, they were the second victim of the invasion, getting caught by a group of patrolling black dragons. Somehow, my friends had survived.

A decision was reached to spend the night under the cover of a bunch of trees instead of carrying on to home. It turned out to be a good decision, because the following morning a squadron of fighter planes and bombers flew overhead. The town would have been carpet bombed if the dragons hadn't gotten to the planes first. Not long after, ground forces met a similar fate at the hands of a very angry Pit Fiends. Apparently, Boneheimer had managed to draw the services of the creatures as a favor in return for the countless souls that were being delivered to their doorstep of torture.

By pure luck, my friends had slipped past the invasion forces as they expanded to new territories. They managed to reenter the ruins that were our home. On the outskirts of town, they had run into the horrifying Mindflayer/Lich who had started this invasion, who let them live on one small condition. He wanted them to fight it out to the death with the punks for his entertainment. At the time, they had no idea that he was the one in charge, thinking he was just another scumbag. To me, it all sounded a little suspicious, but it could very well be true. Boneheimer could have learned of their connection to me and was using them as puppets in his desire to screw with me.

So far, their story was proving to be true. As we made our way through the wreckage, we crossed paths with many members of Boneheimer's army. These creatures did little more than point and laugh at us as we passed by. A few were more than suspicious of myself, Gabriel, and Sparks. Joey claimed that we were part of the reinforcements coming through the portal. The creatures bought the story, but I was sure that at least one had gone and told Boneheimer of my presence. It wouldn't be long until the abomination came after me.

The location of my friends' headquarters was enough proof for me that they were being used as puppets. Only one building in this part of town was even partially intact and it just happened to be my house. On one charred wall remained the burnt outline of two human bodies. My friends tried to redirect my attention, but it was too late, I had noticed the spot where my parents had been murdered.

Upon entering my house, I immediately noticed that my weapon collection had expanded. It now contained almost a thousand pieces. "Our armament." Ashley explained, noticing my impressed nods. Gabriel was already adding a second heavy mace to her gear. I couldn't blame her; we were going to need it soon.

"The war in this town is over now. That group that you guys killed for us were the last of the punks. Boneheimer doesn't have much use for us any more. He's probably sending his goons over here to deal with us at this very moment." Wesley declared as he took a seat next to a broken window.

I looked over my friends, realizing that they had matured so much since I had left them. They were now battle hardened veterans of dealing out death. Such a cruel fate for a bunch of teenagers. At least it was better then being among those who had already met with death and had been on the receiving end of the exchange.

"Hey guys." I began, thinking of something to say that would raise their spirits. "How about when this is over, you come back with us to the D&D world? You guys don't have anything left here except each other. At least there, you would be living in peace."

"Thanks Tint. I for one will accept your offer." Joey was quick to reply. Both Ashley and Wesley added their approval. Now they had something to look forward to after this was over. Unfortunately, their was one major obstacle between us and that future. Boneheimer.

For some odd reason, Boneheimer had left us with a still working television. The flickering lights fascinated Gabriel and Sparks, both drawn to the glowing screen of static. "It's pointless to watch that. Boneheimer destroyed the station second day of the invasion." Ashley explained.

"Boneheimer!" Gabriel suddenly yelled out. I looked over to see her raising her mace high above the TV, prepared to smash the appliance to pieces. "Wait!" I ordered, putting myself between the seething creature and the TV, which now sported the ugly mug of Boneheimer.

"Looks like he's learning how to use our technology." Joey commented as he sat down on the couch. Soon, all six of us were gathered around the boob tube, waiting for the warlord to speak. On the screen a bunch of goblins scurried about in a rushed attempt to get everything set up. From the looks of it, Boneheimer was on the verge of smiting his minions.

Finally, Boneheimer spoke, his voice sounding cockier than ever. It was sickening to listen to. "Welcome home, Tint. Do you recognize the place with all of my redecorating? I had a feeling that you would follow me. You are unlike any other human that I have crossed paths with. You did not show fear when you looked into my eyes. I respect you. If you were not so dedicated to opposing me, I could easily make you one of my generals. Unfortunately for you, that is not the case. I sent a present to you that should be arriving any second now. Please stay alive long enough so that I may witness your death." With that the screen turned black.

"What kind of present do you think he's talking about?" Ashley asked, her voice quivering.

My mind had already come up with an answer to Ashley's question. During Boneheimer's speech, I had heard the house becoming surrounded. I did not say anything at the time because I did not want to frighten my friends any more than they would be when they discovered what had happened. I made my way over to the nearest blown out window and peered outside. Sure enough, the building was surrounded by the likes of every evil creature imaginable. I swallowed nervously as I turned back towards the others. I didn't need to say a single word. They knew.

Without saying a word, we drew our weapons. I decided that it was going to be best if I didn't use my mirror shield. Instead, I drew the katana that I had been carrying for so long, but had yet to use. I had actually forgotten about the weapon for most of the adventures. It was just there and I had carried it with me, just in case. Today, I was going to need the extra offense.

Our silent act of arming ourselves was broken by a call from outside. "We are not here to start a war. We only want the one called Tint." I went to the nearest window to see who had spoken, having slightly recognized the voice. Sure enough, the speaker was someone who I recognized. The three eyed lady from Dondoria had stepped forward to issue the challenge.

I slowly started walking towards the front door. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Joey asked, trying to block my way. I merely pushed my way past the big guy. "This is personal." I whispered as I stepped through the doorway and out into the fading light of day. My friends quickly joined me as I stood before the horde of waiting creatures.

"Good of you to join us tonight." The three eyed woman began. "Boneheimer has made some specific orders regarding you. The two of us are to fight to the death in a one on one battle. No outside interference is to be tolerated." This brought a chorus of laughter from the gathered minions. The woman silenced them with a quick glare. "That goes for our troops as well. Boneheimer will be here momentarily to enforce his rules, so if anyone steps in to help either of us, they will be slain instantly by the dark lord."

"What's with all of these rules?" I whispered to my friends.

Sparks was the one to supply the answer. "This is an ancient tradition from our world. It is a symbol of the respect that the leader of the larger group has for the leader of the smaller group. The winner of the battle gains control over the loser's armies and possessions. Basically, it is meant to put an end to the bloodshed of war. Good luck, Tint." Sparks lifted off of my shoulder, joining my friends who had formed a tiny group behind me. At the other end of the street, Boneheimer's forces were arranging themselves behind the three eyed woman.

An eerie silence filled the air as all of the spectators awaited the arrival of Boneheimer. The sun was glowing a bright orange as it slowly fell below the horizon. A dark cloud started moving in from the east, coming to a stop above the battle grounds. As if by magic, the clouds began to rearrange, taking the form of a few figures. When everything was done, Boneheimer now hovered above us in his throne. Chained to his throne was a battered Deanna. All of the emotion and life had drained from her face, leaving her as little more than an empty vessel. "Deanna!" I heard Gabriel call out behind me, followed by a brief flutter of wings.

"No! Don't move!" I yelled back to Gabriel as she began lifting off the ground. I could hear the sound of hundreds of bows begin to stretch tight as the enemy forces took aim at the half fiend. Gabriel uttered an angry growl as she returned to the ground. One crisis had been averted. I wanted to do the exact same thing, but I knew that it was pointless.

Boneheimer's decaying mug showed an emotion that could have been called pleasure. He seemed to be enjoying the position that he had placed us in. The pools of darkness that served as eyes looked back and forth between myself, the three eyed woman, and the sunset. What was so interesting about the sunset? I had seen it thousands of times before.

Boneheimer stayed silent, his eyes becoming glued to the sun. The instant the glowing ball of light completely disapeared from sight, his attention changed to the other horizon. I followed his gaze to see a full moon rising up. "Let the battle commence!" Boneheimer announced to a series of cheers from his minions.

I prepared myself for the inevitable attack, closing my eyes as I waited for my opponents charge. But nothing came. I opened my eyes to see my opponent writhing n agony at the other end of the street. I lowered my guard, carefully approaching the screaming woman. As I got closer, I noticed that her skin was becoming darker, as if a curse had fallen over her. Still, I moved closer, curiosity drawing me in.

Suddenly, the woman lifted her face to meet mine. How it had changed. What had once been the face of a beautiful woman now resembled a wolf's head. All three of her eyes flickered with an uncanny night glow as they focused on me. Her mouth was now full of razor sharp teeth that looked eager to rip into me. I was staring into the face of a werewolf and I had moved right into her range.

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_A/N: I hope that I didn't anger anyone by ending this chapter before the fight. I promise that the next chapter is going to be fighting from beginning to end. Thanks for reading this, even after my absence. Next update is in less than one week!_


	11. Battle in the Streets

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 11: Battles in the Streets_

_A/N: Oops… I guess that I was unable to keep my promise of weekly updates being continued. Well, this is grad week, so there probably won't be another update next week. I promise that I am trying to get this done whenever I find time, but my schedule is quite full. These next couple of chapters are guaranteed to enthrall all readers._

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"Five minutes." Joey offered.

"Nah… three." Ashley countered.

Wesley was the most optimistic of my three friends. "Six." He called.

I managed a rather grim smile, even despite my close proximity to the werewolf. From the sounds of my friend's comments, they were already forming a betting pool about the length of the fight. I could only hope that they were betting for my victory. "Try one." I yelled out, just a fraction of a second before the three-eyed werewolf lady pounced.

I brought up my swords, desperately trying to either block or parry as many wild swings as possible. The werewolf attacked with a pure berserker method, focusing on nothing more than the thought of shredding me to tiny bits. Her eyes flickered with a primal rage that showed a sick sense of pleasure every time a claw managed its way through my defenses. In less than ten seconds, I felt myself leaking vital fluids from at least six different cuts. At least her claws were relatively short, not causing very deep cuts.

Boneheimer's troops were jesting about the rather pathetic, in their minds, battle that was waging before them. They laughed as their captain drew blood. They laughed as my friends, even Gabriel, covered their eyes. This was entertainment to them.

My opponent had sensed that I was too focused on her claws, taking advantage of my tunnel vision defense by sweeping my legs out from underneath me. The sudden disappearance of a solid base brought my body crashing to the ground. Shaken by the harsh impact, my long sword was knocked out of my right hand. The werewolf saw this as another opportunity to improve her odds, so she kicked the blade as far away from me as she could.

A searing pain ripped through my left shoulder as the werewolf's teeth passed through my chain mail shirt and into my shoulder. It was as if I wasn't wearing armor of any sort. The pain was nearly unbearable. Top that off with the smell of my own blood and I started feeling rather light-headed. The werewolf had also caught scent of my blood, rearing up on her haunches and letting out an ear-splitting howl into the air.

This momentary celebration provided me with the opening that I needed. I forced myself to kick out at her with every ounce of energy I could use. The welcome sound of bones breaking greeted me as the howl of triumph turned to one of agony. The werewolf lowered her face back down, glaring at me with a deep hatred. My opponent was about to take another bite at me when something caused her to jump off me.

I stumbled up to my feet as gracefully as I could muster under the circumstances. Meanwhile, the female werewolf angrily tore out the arrow that had imbedded itself into her side. "Now you did it, moron." I heard Sparks comment as Joey reached for another arrow. "Meh." Joey replied as he fired the arrow into the werewolf, not very far from where his previous one had hit.

Across the street, Boneheimer's troops howled in disgust. Their "sacred" ritual of "honorable" fighting had been compromised. With what could only have resembled the war cry of a mixed band of orcs, goblins, undead, and who knows what else, they charged.

This came as great pleasure to Gabriel who immediately pulled out her two maces and plunged herself into the advancing horde. Within seconds, the half-fiend elf emerged from the opposite side. Behind her, a path of destruction was all that remained of what had stood in her path. Arrows came flying over my shoulder as my friends fell a couple insignificant beasts. That was all that we could manage before the enemy beset upon us.

I quickly switched my katana over to my right hand. My left arm was becoming paralyzed, probably as a result of the ligament damage that I had sustained when that damn werewolf bit me. I swung wildly as the creatures pushed past me, taking a few of them down. Not that it made any difference. There was just simply too many of them.

I watched in helpless horror as the creatures practically ignored me and headed straight towards my friends. My friends were frantically firing off random arrows into the horde before fleeing. Boneheimer's troops chased after them, eager to get the kills. Suddenly, a huge line of acid breath swept across the battlefield, utterly destroying the entirety of Boneheimer's troops. "First time I've seen you do anything in battle, Sparks." I shouted out as I struck down another random goblin.

A low growl was uttered from behind me. I turned just in time to bring my sword up to deflect the claws of the werewolf. She attacked nearly exactly the same as before, but this time, she seemed slightly more desperate, slightly angrier. Her attacks were losing accuracy, easily avoidable. My opponent lunged forward with one massive right handed slash, but I was no longer where she aimed. With one clean slice, I brought my katana up and through her arm, cleanly severing the limb from her body.

"Two minutes." Ashley commented from behind me. I couldn't tell if she was adjusting her earlier bet or stating the time the battle had lasted. Frankly I couldn't care more. Judging from the near silence behind me, it sounded as if my friends had cleaned up the few remaining creatures who had survived Sparks' breath attack. Surprising how something so little could hold so much power. But then again, he was actually hundreds of years old and probably still had the wisdom and power of his actual age.

The werewolf stumbled about the street, her left arm covering the end of the stump that remained from her other arm. Painful howls of agony erupted from the beast as she tried to maintain her berserker composition. If she wasn't my enemy, I would have felt sorry for her. But, under the current circumstances, the best I could do for her was put her out of her misery. I solemnly approached my opponent, keeping my eyes locked with hers. They almost looked as if they were saying that she was sorry.

I brought my sword up behind her, ready to plunge the blood-stained steel deep into her back. Suddenly, a harsh crackling came from above me. I looked up, curiosity distracting me from the kill, just in time to see jagged lightning bolts descending towards me, much too close to be avoided. I felt my heart come to a stop, only for a millisecond, as the lightning struck my still raised hands. The electricity coursed through my body, wrecking havoc on everything that it came in contact with. A second, tinier bolt erupted from the tip of my blade, jumping to the writhing werewolf. She never moved again.

The smell of my own burnt flesh, mixed with the awful smell of fur aflame, reached me, nearly causing me to throw up. I felt myself coughing up black whiffs of smoke. I, along with everyone else who witnessed the strike, was amazed that I was still walking, much less alive. "His HP must be through the roof." Wesley whistled in stunned amazement.

"Where the hell did that come from?" I demanded, looking up at the clear green sky. Surely, those poisoned clouds weren't capable of such a powerful jolt. Then where had it come from? "My turn." A voice, completely devoid of any and al emotion, stated.

I knew instantly who had just shocked me. I looked up in the direction of Boneheimer, but not at him. It was the shackled person beside him that I stared at, feeling hurt and betrayed at the sight of her smoking fingers. "Deanna…" I whispered, cringing as I watched Boneheimer unleash his possessed puppet.

Truthfully, I didn't know if I had it in me to fight her. That last battle had left me seriously drained, barely able to even stand on my own two feet. This was Deanna that we're talking about. The girl who had dragged me into this entire conflict. Not that I was blaming her for it, but it had been one memorable journey. This same beauty who I had shared so many great memories with, whether they be good or bad. I had a feeling that this was going to be our final memory that we shared together and it wasn't going to be a good one.

Deanna descended to the ground on a tiny black cloud, touching down with the same grace that she had with everything else that she did. I reached behind me, unhooking the mirror shield and bringing it before me. Even this simple action caused me to cringe as pain shot through the exposed nerves of my shoulder. That was when Deanna said something completely unexpected. "Heal yourself with my stone. It's been powered up so that it can be used twice daily."

I did as she ordered, holding the healing stone up to my shoulder. Within seconds, the pain was gone and the wound was healing. I smiled thankfully over at Deanna, but still untrusting of my possessed friend. "You didn't need to do that. You easily could have killed me when I didn't pose that much of a threat to you, but instead, you help me. Why?"

It was Deanna's turn to smile. It might have been the moon, but her eyes seemed to twinkle with a hint of her mischievous nature. "I wanted you to be at your best when I killed you. Ever since that day I recruited you to join us, I knew that one day I'd have to kill you. That day has come." With that, Deanna charged.

What foolishness! I couldn't believe that this was the same Deanna who carefully studied all of her enemies before attacking. Never once had I even seen her physically harm someone with her own fists or weapons. Now, she was charging towards me, wildly swinging her quarterstaff at me. As soon as she swung her stick into range, I slashed out with my katana, cleanly slicing the weapon into two parts.

Still, Deanna pushed forward. I was going to raise my sword again to kill her, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. That turned out to be a mistake, as Deanna tossed the chunks of her quarterstaff at me the moment she noticed that I hadn't attacked her. Her aim was impeccable. Both sticks hit me, each one choosing an eye to cruelly blind. The sudden loss of sight was only momentarily, but was enough to provide Deanna with the time she needed. I was helpless as she kicked out at my wrists, forcing me to drop my katana and shield. "I studied the martial arts, too." Deanna whispered, barely a second before she swept the legs out from under me.

For the second time in as many battles, I hit the ground with a big thud. Once again, my opponent descended on their prey. The difference between the werewolf and Deanna was that the later was much more controlled and relaxed. She brought down her knee straight into my gut as she knelt down on my chest. I could feel Deanna's cold breath rise up against my body, up my neck, stopping right next to my head. Then her hands wrapped themselves around my neck, squeezing with all of her might.

Boneheimer was enjoying the scene unfolding below him. In fact, he was laughing. Behind us, I heard the flutter of wings as Gabriel lifted herself off the ground. Deanna glared at the demon-winged elf, snarling, "Don't interfere. If you do, I'll kill him, then I'll kill you. If you do nothing… remember the Caves of Thurgis?"

The pounding of Gabriel's wings came to a stop. I tilted my head up to see what she was doing. All I saw was my friend nod in understanding. I thought back to the stories that the other adventurers had told me of their past battles. Tagorus had once told me the tale of the Cave of Thurgis. Apparently, Rurik had been tricked by the Caves' inhabitants that any creature that didn't belong in sub-terrain realms should be killed. Rurik only played along with the inhabitants, even going so far that he and Tagorus got in a fight to the death. Rurik betrayed the inhabitants so quickly that he managed to slay their evil leader before they realized what had happened. Could this be similar to what was going on now?

Deanna brought her head back down to beside mine. She was still applying a ton of pressure to my gut and neck. Another ten seconds or so and I might have passed out if Deanna didn't begin to loosen her grip. I felt an odd, yet warm glow against my chest. "Don't worry; this is for the freak up there." Deanna whispered reassurance into my ear.

The next few seconds would be forever ingrained into my memory. Deanna rolled off my chest, firing off a series of Magic Missiles up at Boneheimer. The Mindflayer Lich was caught completely off-guard. Each blast struck the decaying creature, enclosing him in a cloud of smoke and debris. Next, Gabriel wet flying up into the cloud, her maces raised, eager to smash Boneheimer's ugly face in. I expected to see Boneheimer be sent falling towards the ground, his protective jewel that made him unkillable destroyed. Instead, what fell out of the cloud was a pair of maces.

"No, Gabby!" Deanna screamed out. The others gasped in horror as they watched the clouds begin to disperse. All I could do was stare up in silence at the horrendous sight that floated above us, well out of our reach, even for the archers. Boneheimer had stopped Gabriel in mid-air, his tentacles wrapping themselves around the elven half-fiend's neck and face.

Boneheimer considered his spectators for a second, his evil aura becoming darker by the moment. He took in our shocked looks with his hollow eye sockets, enjoying the fear that he had placed in us. Then, in one mere flinch of his tentacles, he snapped Gabriel's neck. "NO!" Both Deanna and I screamed. Instead of letting the body drop to the ground, Boneheimer took it into overkill mode. The sickening sound of his tentacles forcing Gabriel's skull to snap open so he could get to the sweet treat in the middle. That sound would haunt me for the rest of my days.

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_A/N: Ouch. I hated to do it, but I had planned this from the beginning. I just didn't expect that I was going to get myself so attached to Gabriel as some of you probably did as well. Sorry._


	12. Avenger Via Destiny

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 12: Avenger Via Destiny_

_A/N: Sorry for taking so long to get this out. I had diploma exams this week and I needed to study. Plus, it's hard to write these chapters without my books. I try to keep things regarding the D&D world as close to accurate as possible. There's a section in this chapter that I had trouble figuring out because I lent my manuals out to a friend. Here's hopes I did it right._

_­_(-)

Boneheimer started chuckling slightly as he tossed Gabriel's body aside. I watched, hoping that somehow Gabriel's folded wings would unfurl and let her fly away to safety. "No…" Deanna whispered, her voice quivering as Gabriel crashed into the ground. It was all a nightmare; a horrible nightmare that would end at any second. I closed my eyes, thinking that when I opened them I would be back in the hospital, recovering from my injuries.

Instead, my eyes opened to reveal Boneheimer descending towards us. His tentacles were covered with a thick red layer of blood. His hollow eyes were focused on us, bent on claiming another victim. "Can we run now?" Joey asked, already backing away from the evil creature.

"Go ahead and run, fools! You are all going to die!" Boneheimer gloated, taking off after Joey. Joey heard Boneheimer's evil laughter approaching him from behind and began to load his bow. Suddenly he stopped, turned, and fired the arrow straight into an eye socket of Boneheimer. Two more arrows from Ashley and Wesley imbedded themselves into the lich's body. Boneheimer didn't even react to the piercing arrows in his decaying flesh, closing the distance on the fleeing Joey.

I found myself in a position between Boneheimer and Joey. Boneheimer didn't even seem to acknowledge my presence as he approached. I held my katana ready, swinging with everything that I had as he passed. The blade cut cleanly through the creature's arm, much to my surprise. Boneheimer came to a halt, stopping to examine the wound. He looked down only momentarily before addressing me, "That was foolish, Tint. I can regenerate myself at will. Now, you are going to be the next to die."

Boneheimer held out the severed stump of his limb, concentrating deeply. Nothing happened. A confused look crossed his decrepit face, almost as if something had gone wrong. I found myself gloating, despite the knowledge that it would anger the mindflayer lich, "What is it? Did the insignificant, weak human manage to do something amazing?"

The face of Boneheimer now showed fear. He raised his remaining arm, pointing towards my sword. I looked down and gasped. My sword was surrounded by a glowing white aura. "No way!" I exclaimed. I locked my eyes with the scared sockets of Boneheimer, pointing my katana directly at my enemy. "It looks like Gabriel is going to be avenged." A smile slowly grew on my lips as I charged Boneheimer.

I could only wonder as to what was running through the mind of Boneheimer. There he was, one of the most powerful creatures ever created. The nearly immortal resilience of being an undead creature. The sheer destructive power granted to him from his mindflayer background. An impressive assortment of spells to bring death to his enemies. All of this power and somehow, a teenage human had managed to cut through this protective image using a seemingly enchanted weapon. It really wasn't fair, but neither was the murder of Gabriel.

The five spectators had gathered together, huddling beneath a partial wall. Judging from the looks on their faces, they were just as surprised as everyone else. It had never crossed any of our minds that it was possible to defeat Boneheimer, and yet, here I was charging at the horrible beast. I reached out with a broad slash, hoping to catch hold of any part of him. I found myself pushing forward, stepping over the chunk of facial tentacle that had jus been severed from its owner.

Boneheimer was reverting to pure reflexes and determination to survive. He knew that he had to think of something very soon if he hoped to emerge victorious. I was trying my hardest to upset his thought process by overriding his senses with pain. Another cut, another prize piece. Victory was near, or so I thought.

I lunged forward and was amazed when Boneheimer easily dodged the attack. Now, I found myself pressed up against a wall. "It hadn't been there before." I thought as I turned around to face Boneheimer. Between us was a glowing multi-colored light wall. I was trapped between the two walls, both of which were of a surprise location to me.

"Tint! Those are both Boneheimer's spells!" Deanna yelled.

Boneheimer glared over at Deanna and the others, who all quickly dove for cover. I couldn't blame them; I would've done the same thing if I was in their shoes. As it was, I was fighting against the epitome of evil creatures. The aforementioned creature seemed to have lost interest in me, as he was now plundering the bodies of his own fallen troops. One soldier's spear seemed to have met the high standards that he had. Boneheimer picked up the spear and jabbed it into leg.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I insulted.

Another mistake. Boneheimer removed the weapon from his leg and examined the end. The tip was now coated with an unsightly green muck. I could only guess as to what it did, but I had a feeling that I would find out soon. Villains always have a habit of revealing what their plans and weapons did just in time for the hero to find a way out of the situation. Of course, my logic was flawed. Boneheimer thrust the spear through his own barrier and into my chest.

Boneheimer decided to leave the spear where it was stuck. By this point, I had almost grown accustomed to the pain from getting stabbed by swords and spears. This time there was a burning sensation caused by the stuff that Boneheimer had added to the spear. "What… what was that stuff?" I demanded through gritted teeth.

The glowing light screen fell away in shatters. Lot of good it had done me. Boneheimer mustered what could have been equivalent to a smile. "One of the first things that I did when I arrived in your time era was travel to a library to study. Whilst there were no spell books, I did find the writings of Shakespeare fairly entertaining. I stole the idea of stabbing you with a poisoned weapon from Hamlet. Now, you have but half an hour of life in you." Boneheimer bragged. So much for my theory of braggart villains giving away their plans beforehand.

I felt myself becoming weaker with every passing second. The only thing holding me on my feet was the spear stuck in the wall through me. A thin cloud of purple smoke was forming from the point where the spear entered my chest. "That… can't be right." I mused as everything around me turned to black.

(-)

My eyes fluttered open, revealing completely new surroundings. Gone was the battle on the streets. Now, I found myself in the midst of a serene forest. Birds happily sang their songs while woodland creatures scampered across the forest floor. The natural beauty of the scene left me breathless, yet confused. What had happened to Boneheimer?

The pain in my chest had subsided. I looked down and found that the spear and its wound had disapeared. I quickly felt myself over just to make sure that I was still alive. My mind was racing in an attempt to figure out what had happened. I began muttering some strange explanations as I took wild guesses as to my current situation.

The sound of laughter behind me caused me to jump. Sitting on a throne made of a hollowed out stump, was a gorgeous female elf. She was surrounded by an unearthly glow that radiated brilliance. "Come." The elf beckoned for me to approach her throne. Her voice echoed with a graceful whisper of godliness.

I figured that it would be smartest if I knelt before this elf. There was something about her that set her above everyone else. The elf smiled in response to my gesture and bid me to return to my feet. I quickly complied to her order and was about to ask her some pressing questions, when she held up a finger to stop me. "I am Ehlonna." She stated. "Do you know who I am?"

My mouth nearly dropped at the mention of the elf's name. I nodded my head eagerly as I recited some of my limited knowledge. "Yes, you are Ehlonna, goddess of the woodlands. Worshipped by elves, gnomes, halflings, rangers and druids. Which makes me ask: Why did you call me here? I am not one of your followers."

Ehlonna chuckled at my question. "I have been waiting to speak with you for quite some time now. It was me who enchanted your sword. Boneheimer is the creation of Nerull and is upsetting the balance between evil and good. I am just doing my part in evening out the game."

"But why?" I couldn't help but asking.

Another enchanting chuckle from the goddess. "I have two reasons. Firstly, it was a favor to one of my followers, who just recently joined me here. You can reveal yourself now." Ehlonna called out into the trees.

I looked over in the direction the goddess called in. I could see the trees parting as another beautiful elf approached the tiny clearing where Ehlonna and I were conversing. This elf had an odd, yet familiar appearance, almost as if I had seen her before. The elf saw me and smiled brightly. She ran up to me and embraced me in a huge hug. A very odd action coming from an elf.

"Duh…" Was all I could think of saying.

This new elf laughed. "You sure are one of a kind, Tint. You can insult an enemy right in their face, yet you cannot speak with a girl without blushing. So honest, yet too shy. I can see what Deanna sees in you."

"Huh?"

"Incredible, Tint. You do not recognize me? I guess that can be expected. Nobody would. They never saw me except for my half-fiend form."

"Gabriel?" I exclaimed. The elf nodded, her smile growing wider. Ehlonna was deeply enjoying this happy reunion that she had created. "Wow! You're an elf!"

"Of course, I am an elf! I have always been an elf, just not a full one." Gabriel growled. I immediately recognized the pissed off emotion that she was oft of showing. You can change someone on the outside, but you can't change them on the inside.

I felt a sudden twinge of remorse. "It's my fault that you got killed. It was because of me that you came to my time era. If I hadn't dragged you into this, you might still…"

Gabriel quickly cut me off. "Do not blame yourself. I followed you because you are my friend and I could not stand by idly as you valiantly fought for a friend of ours. My only regret was that I failed to kill Boneheimer."

"Well, I was trying to. I was doing a good job until he did that wall trick." I explained.

Ehlonna cut into our reunion. "I am sorry, but if I may? Tint, you must return to your time and defeat Boneheimer. Do not ask how, just attack him. Time has been paused, so you will return to the exact moment that you left. Goodbye, and good luck."

Once again everything turned dark. I felt my body begin to twinge as my body began to vanish and reappear in two separate realms. A very disturbing feeling, one which was quickly replaced by the returned pain of the replaced spear. Just as I vanished from Ehlonna's court, I overheard a fading conversation between the goddess and Gabriel. "You forgot the second reason." Gabriel commented.

Ehlonna chuckled once again. "So I did. His father would not appreciate it if I revealed my son's destiny. He has his heart set on being the one to reveal it."

(-)

_A/N: Gabriel's in a happy place! I hadn't originally planned on putting her in there, but the reaction from her death convinced me to give her a last hurrah. Plus, Tint's the son of an elven goddess! I wonder who the father's going to be. Guarantee that the fight between Boneheimer and Tint, the part elf (weird to say, I admit), will finish next chapter. Left you with enough thoughts, eh?_


	13. Pure Neutral Alignment

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 13: Pure Neutral Alignment_

_A/N: Just a couple of quick little notes before I start. Inadvertently, I discovered a Yu-Gi-Oh card named Boneheimer. It's a weak little sea horse thing, barely any attack or defense, no effect. Imagine my disappointment. Second note. I'm nearing the end of this fic. Three or so chapters more. I plan on ending it with a bang, though._

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"What?" I demanded. Had my ears deceived me or did Ehlonna just call me her son? It just didn't make any sense at all. I had my own family, all of whom Boneheimer had killed. Now, there was a goddess claiming that she was my mother. The idea of being a descendant of a god did sound appealing, though.

Soon, I found myself back in my own world. Boneheimer had taken off after Joey again and was trying to catch up to my friend. It appeared that the old saying "you run faster scared than angry" was true. Sparks was shooting streams of acid after the demonic creature, while Deanna was readying what looked like a fireball attack. Then there was me, stuck to a wall with that damn spear still pierced through me.

"Tint!" Ashley called out with joy, seeing that I was still alive. I tried to hush her, but it was too late. Boneheimer overheard Ashley's cry and stopped his hunt. Joey quickly dived for cover, glad to be safe. "How can you possibly still be alive?" Boneheimer demanded, nearly shaking in anger.

I painfully reached up and jerked the spear out of my body, falling to the ground. Nearly immediately, I was back on my feet, smiling politely at my enemy. "Guess what? I'm the son of Ehlonna! That means that a pathetic little Mindflayer/Lich like you can't even touch me! I am invincible!"

An immense fireball and Spark's acid breath slammed into the distracted Boneheimer. Boneheimer simply shrugged off the attack like it was nothing more than a mosquito. Now it was his turn to gloat. "Good for you, Tint. Too bad for you that I was created by a god that is so much stronger than your god. Vecna channeled almost all of his evil energy into me."

"That's a bad thing, isn't it?" I asked to Deanna. "Who's Vecna? I've never heard of that god." I joked. Deanna merely shook her head in disbelief. I had a feeling that I had just angered Boneheimer even more with my comment. The creature emitted a low growl as he charged towards me. I gulped nervously as I held up my katana and charged forward.

My sword came crashing down, plunging deep into Boneheimer's chest. At the same time, Boneheimer wrapped his sole arm around my face, dragging me in. I gasped for air as the tentacles tightened, threatening to suffocate me. It took every once of energy that I had to hold onto my sword and dig deeper into the undead beast.

A small opening appeared before me, offering me a fresh source of air. The entire tentacle was starting to loosen. For a second, I actually thought that I might have defeated Boneheimer. But then, when the tentacles finally gave way, I found myself staring into Boneheimer's gaping maw. This must have been the exact same scene that Gabriel had seen before meeting her fate.

What happened next was nearly beyond description. "I wish that Tint's organs rearrange themselves so that his brain switches places with his rectum." What the hell, Deanna! The inside of my body felt like it was becoming rearranged. Boneheimer noticed my discomfort and smiled, thinking that he was the cause of my squirming. The Mindflayer's remaining tentacles probed at my face, digging inside my head. With a satisfied grunt, Boneheimer attempted his mind sucking attack.

Boneheimer's grip on me suddenly became very loose, letting me slip to the ground. I almost passed out right then and there. My stomach, wherever it was, felt like it had turned inside out. Boneheimer wasn't faring much better. He was holding onto the sides of his head and was emitting a horrible scream. "What happened?" It was Wesley who asked the question that was on everyone's mind. Nobody could think of any way of explaining the situation other then it being weird.

_"Get up! Kill him!"_ A shadowy voice echoed in my mind.

Now was definitely not the time to question how odd it was that I was going insane. I followed the voice's command, rising up to my knees. My hand was still clutched around the hilt of the katana which was wedged into Boneheimer. "This is for everyone whose life you ruined!" I screamed, slicing the sword up through Boneheimer's ribs and out the top of his skull. Boneheimer uttered one final curse as he fell over, green blood and purple smog pouring out of the massive wound.

"He did it!" Deanna cheered. She, along with the others, came running over to congratulate me. I could feel the hearty hugs squeezing my hurt body into submission. "Please." I begged, feeling my bones crack. Also, I could feel my organs returning to their original locations.

My friends released me from their grasp, but Deanna held on to me. Her forehead was pressed up against my blood stained face, the tears from her eyes washing away the ghastly mess. "You did it. You killed Boneheimer" She whispered.

I reached around her, holding her just as tightly as she was holding onto me. Her body was so soft and welcoming after the rigors that I had just been for. "It's finally over." I whispered back, gently tilting Deanna's chin upwards so that she could look into my eyes. The two of us looked deep into each other's eyes. I took advantage of the situation and kissed Deanna.

Deanna issued a surprised squeal as my lips pressed against hers. It wasn't long before Deanna slapped her hand across my face, breaking the kiss. "What the hell, Tint? This isn't the time for that!" She yelled. I could hear the others chuckling.

"I thought we were having a nice intimate moment there. Then you have to go wreck it!" I complained, holding a hand up to my injured face.

Deanna glared at me. "We're only friends! I'll be the one to decide when we become more than that!"

"Great! When's that going to be? Probably never, most likely."

"How about now?" Deanna inquired as she pulled my face back to its previous position, our lips quickly joining up again, this time with both sides willing.

"I really hate romances." A dark, whispery voice hissed from nearby. Everyone looked up and gasped at the sight of the new arrival. Standing over the body of Boneheimer was another decaying creature. This one looked like a regular human, except held the same regal disposition of a Lich. His left hand and eye were both missing. The new Lich was hovering above the ground by a foot and was surrounded by an immense aura, similar to Ehlonna's, except of a dark, evil nature.

"Vecna." Sparks shuddered. Second god that I've met in less than ten minutes.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded. This stupid Lich had just stopped me from reaching second base with Deanna. I might have even been able to hit a home run by the end of the day. But no… this guy had interrupted us. It was his turn to feel my wrath. I pushed myself up to my feet and faced the hovering Lich.

Vecna laughed at my show of aggressiveness. "You do not want to try killing me, boy. Just because you slew one of my minions does not mean that you have the skill to conquer me as well."

"Minion? You mean that you were behind Boneheimer's conquests! But why would a god be interested in ruling the world? He already has all the power that he needs." Deanna probed.

"I am afraid that that is a secret." Trust the god of secrets to have a secret agenda.

My imagination might have been going a little wild, but it felt like it was growing colder. Even with the sun shining brightly overhead, a chill was spreading over the street. Vecna seemed unbothered by either the sun or the coldness. I guess gods don't feel discomfort. The air was reeking with the smell of death lingering all around us.

_"It isssssss no sssssssecret."_ The voice from my mind spoke again, but this time, the voice was coming from somewhere nearby. We all turned once again, this time to see a cloaked figure holding a large scythe approaching. Skeletal feet stepped forward purposeful as the figure stepped in front of Vecna. _"You jusssssst want revenge on Kasssss."_ The figure hissed.

Vecna glared down on the cloaked being. You could feel the hatred being radiated from Vecna. The two stared at each other for a few minutes. "We should hurry up and get to the portal. This world is no longer safe." Sparks suggested.

"Why?" Joey asked. We were all already on the move, slowly inching away from the standoff.

"Because the cloaked guy is Nerull, god of death. Vecna and Nerull don't get along at the best of times and I have a feeling that Nerull did not like the overwhelming workload that Boneheimer was creating. Now, he's got a chance to exact some revenge on Vecna." Sparks explained.

"All I wad planned was having Boneheimer kill Kas. But no, Boneheimer became bloodthirsty. He wasn't satisfied with killing only one person. He killed another, then another. Soon, there was nothing I could do to stop him. Kas still lives, ruling the kingdom." Vecna explained, his right hand reaching down, pulling a dagger out of his sash.

Our tiny little group was already a couple of blocks away. The voices of the two gods echoed across the barren landscape, easily reaching us clearly. "I guess you guys are coming with us back in time." Deanna smiled.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Wesley smiled back, replying for the three.

I was trailing behind the others, trying to overhear the argument continuing behind us. Nerull was speaking, _"You upsssssset the balanccccce of life and deathhhhhh. You know the lawssssss of the godssssss."_

"So what are you going to do about it? There is no way to reverse the damage that Boneheimer caused. At least your son managed to end the destruction." Vecna explained.

_"My sssssson isssss none of your concccccern… But, there issssss a way to repay the pricccccce paid." _Nerull raised his scythe in a threatening motion towards Vecna.

I stopped in my tracks. The others were equally stunned by Vecna's statement. "Your parents are Nerull and Ehlonna?" Deanna asked in amazement. "That would make you a full god with a pure neutral alignment!" Everyone was gazing at me in amazement.

"So… how did it feel to be kissed by a god?" I asked Deanna, trying to enlighten the situation with a smart ass reply.

"I'm not sure. I'll have to give it a second try." Deanna replied.

A cough from Sparks told us to break up the act and continue. The sound of metal clashing against metal had replaced the conversation going on behind us. The ground was rumbling and the air whined. I took another look back to see the sky filling with flying demons. The ground was opening up to release hordes of Nerull's eternal army of the dead. "Good idea, Sparks. Run faster." I instructed the others.

As our group ran through the streets we passed by other evil creatures, heading towards the battle behind us. The beings paid us no attention, either because they were more interested in a fight or scared of me, I couldn't tell. My best guess was that the creatures were the remains of Boneheimer's invasion force. This fight was a source of pride for them.

The six of us arrived at the entrance to the tunnel between realms. Joey was the first to descend into the tunnel. "I feel so much safer with a god on our team, even if he doesn't have any powers." He commented as he dropped into the tunnel below.

"Don't be so hard on him Joey. You don't have any powers and you're not a god." Ashley countered, following after Joey.

"In other words, you're completely useless Joey." Wesley added as he dropped out of sight.

Deanna, with Sparks on her shoulder was next. I watched until she touched the bottom, then I turned and began walking towards the battle. "Tint, aren't you coming?" Deanna demanded, climbing back up the ladder to check on me.

"Don't follow me, Deanna. Go ahead, I'll be fine. I have a few issues to take care of." I stated calmly.

"Tint…" Deanna whispered, trembling at the thought of losing another friend on this adventure. She blew me a kiss as the others pulled her back down into the tunnel.

There was a large quivering black mass on the horizon that signaled the location of the battle. That was where I was headed. I was thinking about the words of my friends and what they had told me. Tagorus' words were the most prominent in my mind. "Tint can be very resourceful. He's the only one I know who can screw up something easy and blow it out of proportion. But somehow, he always manages to find a way out of it." I repeated, hoping that my luck was going to continue. This was just something that I needed to do.

As I approached the battle, I had a strange feeling that I wasn't alone. While I was probably the very last person left alive in the entire world, I felt like the spirits of the world's population were all with me. Yes, it's a very corny thing to feel, but it was true. This was my time and I was not going to let everyone die in vain. The last person to step foot in this time was going to be me. There was no other possible way.

I had my katana and mirror shield held in my hands, ready to dive headfirst into the battle when I arrived there. Luckily, I found a pair of creatures fighting away from the main battle to practice on. All I did was walk between the dueling combatants to draw their attention. The tiny imp and kobold skeleton took offence to my intrusion. Gabriel's advice had been forgotten. Stupid kobolds.

The two creatures were soon defeated under the power of my still enchanted sword, much thanks to Ehlonna. I continued forwards, cutting down whatever stepped in front of me, not really caring if it was a pitiful skeleton, a raging orc, or a wicked devil. Judging from the tide of the battle, it appeared that my father's forces were winning. That was probably because of the endless sea of indestructible creatures pouring forth from the cracks in the ground.

Apparently, Nerull had ordered his minions to trust me as an ally. The undead creatures in my path chose to step back and clear a path for me rather than fight. I felt uneasy trusting these creatures not to stab me in the back as I walked past them. I could see Nerull and Vecna fighting among the forces, the air around them electric. Vecna's dagger was swinging wildly against the massive scythe of Nerull, with the god of death having a clear advantage, despite his smaller frame.

Vecna saw my approach and, figuring that the battle was turning out poorly in his favor, called out to his troops to retreat. Within seconds, the battlefield was vacant of any living creatures under Vecna's control. _"Cccccceasssssse!" _Nerull ordered his troops. There were only a few of Boneheimer's forces left, but they appeared willing to accept the ceasefire.

I nervously approached my father and cleared my throat. "Father."

_"Sssssson." _Nerull hissed. It was nearly impossible to determine any emotion that was displayed by the cloaked figure.

I had no idea of what to say. The only thing to come to mind was to offer my hand for a handshake. Nerull looked down at my extended hand and I swear that he tilted his head in intrigue. Talk about shaking hands with the devil. A bony hand released its grip on the scythe and grasped mine, shaking it firmly. Silence followed for another few moments. "Now what?" I finally asked, breaking the eternal silence.

Nerull waved a hand in the air, signaling his forces to return to the depths of hell. _"Return to other realm. Defeat Kasssss. Take the throne for yourssssself. There needsssss to be balanccccce between good and evil. That issssss you." _My father whispered. I nodded my head in understanding. I was about to take my leave when Nerull placed the tip of his scythe on my shoulder, stopping me. _"Take what you came for."_

"Thanks." I smiled. "May I ask how you and Ehlonna got around to uhm…?"

_"We met to disssscusssssss what to do with an nymph that turned into a ghosssst. One night sssstand." _

Nerull pointed his scythe in the direction that I needed. The god of death proceeded to vanish into the crack in the earth just before it sealed itself up. I knew that I would never be seeing him again, but it was just as well. I didn't want to be meeting up with him on a weekly basis.

I picked my way through the bodies until I found what I was looking for. Underneath of a huge pile of dead creatures was the body of Gabriel. I lifted her body up off the ground, carefully folding her wings around her body, just the way she liked them in that cape like look. I tried my hardest to maintain a solid expression as I carried the dead elf towards the portal. "A god doesn't cry," I told myself.

I found that the few survivors of Boneheimer's invasion force were following after me. The poor creatures were severely beaten and bruised, struggling to keep walking. They all looked like they were humans who had undergone some of Boneheimer's genetic alterations. There were a total of twelve of them, all seemingly accepting that I was their leader, whether I wanted to be or not. "You guys can join with me, but on one condition." I called back to the following creatures. "You all have to promise that you will give up your evil ways and behave yourselves."

"Yes, Lord Tint." Came the reply. Lord. I liked the sounds of that. One of the humans nervously approached me and asked, "Can you find a way to return us to normal, Lord Tint?"

I looked over at the man, who had a row of spikes running along his spine and arms. It was only right that they be returned to normal. They never asked to be modified. "I'll do what I can." I promised.

Me and my followers arrived at the portal entrance and quickly descended into the tunnel. One of my followers had been outfitted with a pair of dragon lungs, lighting the way with a small puff of flame. I don't know why, but for some reason I was humming the Imperial March, which was usually reserved for Darth Vader. It had always been a dream of mine to enter a room with that music starting up right as I entered. This seemed like an appropriate time as any. Before long, my followers had learned the tune and were humming along with me.

"That's Tint, I can guarantee it! You owe me twenty bucks, Joey!" I heard Wesley's voice echo down the tunnel.

"I left my wallet at home." Joey retorted.

Me and my group were close enough to light up Deanna and the others. Deanna immediately noticed Gabriel in my arms and nodded in understanding. "Tagorus needs to know and I'm sure that she would want to have a proper elven burial." I explained.

(-)

_A/N: Two chapters remain after this. I hope that this chapter made sense to everyone, even though I had trouble getting making sense of it myself. I'll try to be done with this fic within the next week or two. Thanks for reading and please tell me what you thought._


	14. Tint's Army

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 14: Tint's Army_

_A/N: Ok, so here goes the second last chapter of this fic. I know that it has become a little unbelievable, but that's part of the fun of fiction. Anything can happen, believable or not. So, I dig into my hat and let's see what I come up with._

(-)

The nearly endless tunnel echoed with the heavy footsteps of me and my followers, creating a thunderous boom as we fell into a march. I was walking in front of everyone, with Deanna the sorceress at my side. Slightly behind me, to my left, were the three archers from my time, my friends. On my shoulder was my guardian pet copper dragon, Sparks. Trailing behind were a dozen genetically altered humanoids, all boasting amazing mental and physical powers far above those of the average being. If only Gabriel was still alive…

Even in the darkness, we could see the faint outline of the end of the tunnel. The doorway was slowly falling apart, which meant that the entire tunnel would collapse in the near future. Whatever magic that created the portal between times must have known that the tunnel had served its purpose. There was no turning back anymore, even if I had the slightest desire to turn back. As it was, I knew that I was headed in the right direction.

"Let me exit the tunnel by myself first." I ordered my followers. "Only follow on my signal." It was amazing how fast I had turned into a military commander. I was nearly one hundred percent sure that I had the complete loyalty of my followers. In some strange way, I was their savior for rescuing them from Boneheimer's control. That made me responsible for their well being. I wasn't going to let another friend of mine die.

We were standing at the base of the wall that served as the end of the tunnel. I gave the exit a push, but it wouldn't budge. "Let me, sir." A huge male, about seven feet tall, four hundred plus pounds pushed past the other forces. With one sturdy push, the big guy was able to toss the door clear free of the tunnel.

I heard the stir of surprised voices on the opposite side of where the door had once been. Now was the time to make a dramatic entrance. I sauntered out into the light, proudly strutting about like I owned the place. Upon my entrance the voices stopped, as if to conceal their presence. "Don't even bother attacking me. I'll tool all of ya!" I bragged.

"Just like you, Tint. Always acting superior to everyone else." A familiar deep male voice laughed from somewhere out in the bright light. Maybe acting so powerful wasn't a good idea, because I couldn't see any further than the nice blur that clouded my vision.

"Who's there!" I demanded. "Show yourself so I can beat you all up!"

Another voice laughed from a completely different direction. "And to think that such a useless little future brat managed to kill Boneheimer. What did you do, bore him to death with talk about video games?"

"You all have it wrong. Tint actually killed Boneheimer! It turns out that Tint is the son of Ehlonna and Nerull." Sparks claimed as he flew out from the tunnel. I didn't appreciate the laughter coming from the people in front of me. I was finally able to figure out who I was talking to. "Rurik? Tagorus? Jillian? Is that you?"

"Sure is. What happened to Deanna and Gabriel? Surely if you survived, they did as well." I could make out the outline of Tagorus as the speaker.

Here came the moment that I was regretting since I had made the decision to retrieve Gabriel's body. "Tagorus, I am sorry for what I am about to do. Come on out, everyone." I called back to the tunnel.

"Boneheimer's forces!" Rurik exclaimed, charging forward to do battle.

"Halt! They are with me." I stated. I looked back over my shoulder to see the big guy exit the tunnel with Gabriel's body draped over his shoulder. "I'm sorry Tagorus. Boneheimer killed her."

The elf refused to mourn his sister, despite the obvious need to do so. Both Rurik and Jillian rushed forward, each placing a touching hand on our friends body. "How did it happen?" Jillian asked.

Deanna was just stepping forward, her head hung low. "It was my fault. I was only pretending to be under Boneheimer's control and I was fighting Tint. We launched a surprise attack against him, but he was prepared for us. Gabriel flew right into his clutches and he killed her on the spot. That was when Tint went insane. Boneheimer didn't stand a chance against him."

"Why did you bring her back if she was dead?" Tagorus demanded, a hint of anger tainting his words.

I swallowed nervously as I tried to explain myself. "Uhhh… I thought that she deserved a proper elven burial." Tagorus took a quick step forward, scaring me. I screwed my eyes shut, hoping that I wouldn't be on the receiving end of Tagorus' anger. But, nothing happened. I peeked one eye open and was relieved to see Tagorus extending an open handshake. "Thank you. Even though she was half fiend, she was also half elf, and thus deservers the same rights as her kind." I smiled in agreement as I should the ranger's hand, glad that I had done the right thing.

After paying our final respects to the great Gabriel, we set up camp for the night. The sun was getting low in the sky, casting a fiery red glow across the land. "How did that saying go? Red sky at night, take flight?" I asked.

"Close enough, Tint." Deanna chuckled. The entire group was gathered around a large bonfire where the old town's village square had been. We had swapped the complete details of our individual quests since we had lest been together. Jillian and Rurik had gone on a holy crusade to recruit more priests, clerics and paladins to replace those lost during the war against Boneheimer. Tagorus, meanwhile, had tracked down the fiend that had fathered Gabriel and slew the creature. Gabriel wouldn't have had it any different.

"We had rejoined at the Fire'n'Water Inn. Fido was there, waiting for us. Apparently, none of us were allowed back in Dondoria because we were friends of Tint's. At the time, it made no sense to us. But after learning that the king is actually Kas, Vecna's sworn enemy and that Boneheimer was just a tool for Vecna, we understand completely." Rurik explained.

"So, we figured that it would be best to follow you to your time and help you kill Boneheimer. Seems like you managed quite well on your own." Jillian finished the tale.

An awkward silence followed as if nobody had anything to talk about. Deanna finally broke the silence, by asking, "What now?"

"We kill Kas, that's what we do next." I stated, rather coldly. The others gave me a surprised look, not expecting me to be the one who stepped forward. Others were even more surprised that I was suggesting that we kill the king who "personally" saved everyone from Boneheimer.

"Why do you say that?" Tagorus inquired.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Simple really. If Kas is dead, Vecna will quit sending minions to kill him. Sooner or later, Kas will show his true colors and start killing innocent people. In a way, it's killing two birds with one stone."

"Good idea, but there are a few problems." A voice stated from outside the circle surrounding the fire. We all turned, weapons drawn, to face the new arrival. "Whoa! No need for that, friends." Fido had his hands held up in surrender as he stepped into the light.

"Weapons down!" Jillian ordered, but only Tagorus, Rurik, myself and Deanna listened. "Do as she says." I told the others, receiving instant compliance. Jillian gave me a friendly smile, "Looks like I'm no longer the leader of this group. Have fun, Tint."

Fido was overlooking everyone gathered. "A few of Boneheimer's former grunts and some more kids from the future. Is that all you have for forces? You will never be able to storm Dondoria and overthrow Kas with that force."

"And what do you suggest?" I spat back. I didn't know why, but I felt like I was starting to become a little cruel with my words. It was almost as if my father's side was winning a battle on the inside of me.

The green centaur gave me a smile that told me he had a few surprises to add to the mix. Sure enough, his next words confirmed my suspicions, "I present the combined forces of The Royal Mutineers, Forest Walkers, Displaced Inhabitants of Ecniat, SmaShitUp and the Centaur Coalition."

As soon as the words left Fido's mouth, the ground began to shake with the force of an earthquake. I looked all around me, seeing the darkness itself move as troops approached from out of the shadows. The night hid their numbers, but they easily exceeded ten thousand in total. "Wow…" Was all that I could say as a representative stepped forward from each group to be introduced.

The Royal Mutineers were made up of a large percentage of the former army of Dondoria. I had fought alongside many of these men in the first storming of Dondoria. Now, they were back, this time to reclaim their city from their former leader. I couldn't believe that so many people had figured out that the king was evil and that he needed to be removed.

Forest Walkers were exactly what their name implied. Elves, half-elves, halflings, dryads, pixies, pretty much any forest dwelling creature had stepped up to the plate. "Hello nymphs!" I warmly greeted. For my friendly welcome I received a burning log thrust against my head. "Stupid Mage Hand spell…" I grumbled as I withered under Deanna's glare. The Forest Walkers were the inhabitants of the forest on the outskirts of Dondoria, which had been burned down recently as compliance to Kas' orders.

Next came the Displaced Inhabitants of Ecniat. I was informed that Ecniat was the second largest city on the continent. A proud mountainous mining operation run by gnomes, humans, dwarves, and a few drow. The city was destroyed by Boneheimer early in his campaign of terror, before anyone realized how powerful he actually was. Luckily, the town had been evacuated long before the attack, thanks to a freak of nature heavy rainstorm that flooded the tunnels.

I loved the name of SmaShitUp. Say smashit, but stress the sh, making it into two words. Apparently, only the people from my time era and the orc clan that called themselves by this name understood its true meaning. These guys were armed from head to toe with at least three dozen weapons. That didn't include the ones I couldn't see, nor wanted to.

Finally, there was the Centaur Coalition, which Fido proudly called his family. The only reason that they were joining the fight was to see to it that they weren't the only major species to be excluded from the war. The centaurs had been playing a neutral role in the war so far, with the obvious exception of Fido.

Whispers were already flying through the ranks of troops gathered around that they were in the presence of a god. A few, obviously religious, creatures were already bowing. Soon, others began to follow their lead, until everyone was kneeling down. I had no idea how that secret had spread to them, but it was having its effect. Even Jillian and Rurik, who were strongly devoted to their own gods, knelt down towards me.

"Tint, say something! You've become the spiritual leader of our army!" Sparks hissed in my ear.

I wasn't very good at coming up with all of these damn impromptu speeches. I had used up all of my encouraging words the last time that I did this. All of my insults had been used up against Boneheimer and the Kobold king. My mind raced for something, anything really, to say. Suddenly, I had an idea. I cleared my throat and prepared myself.

"My fellow warriors! It is time for us to throw off the chains of oppression and rise up against the tyranny that we are faced with. For too long, the people of this land have been faced with great hardships. For too long, you have put up with facing that which no man should ever have to face. Boneheimer has fallen, but another has taken his place! Will we stand for this treatment for any longer?"

"NO!" Came the resounding scream from those gathered.

I was momentarily deafened by the roar, pausing for a bit before continuing. "By the time the sun has set tomorrow, you shall all be free. That, I promise!" Another roar erupted. "To war!" I yelled, pumping my fist up into the air.

"To war!" The mass repeated.

"For freedom!" I shouted, adding another fist pump to the call.

"FOR FREEDOM!" I could guarantee that if Kas was asleep, the war cry would have awakened him from his slumbers. We were coming for him and we would be there by the time the sun came up in the morning. "Forward, march!" I commanded, letting the thunderous boom of the perfect cadence echo through the night.

"You've gotten better with your motivational speeches." Deanna commented as she fell in beside me at the front of the army. Sparks quickly joined me on my shoulder, while the other leaders and special forces filled in the front rank on either side of me. Even though nobody could see it, I was smiling. I just a few short months, I had gone all the way from nerdy high school student to the general of an entire army of mythical creatures. I could only wonder what tomorrow would bring me.

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_A/N: It might take me a while to get the final chapter done. I'm planning on making it the same length as the first chapter. I still hope to get it done by the end of next weekend. Hope you all like the ending, I have a few surprises that'll finish the fic off._


	15. Death, Betrayal, Lies, War, Arrogance

D&D Tag Along

_Chapter 15: Death, Betrayal, Lies, War, Arrogance_

_A/N: I can't believe that I'm finally finishing this fic. I've had some fun with it, but I know that I went a little overboard at times. So, this chapter is going to involve even more of these strange twists! I promise that you'll all love the ending, but you may not like what happens between now and the end. It makes perfect sense and is really believable! Well, here goes…_

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My forces had gathered in the forest surrounding Dondoria. Over ten thousand strong, it was a force that could easily destroy Kas and his few remaining defenders. Now, all we were waiting for was the sun to peak over the horizon and we would attack. Everyone was tense, knowing full well that this could be their final act of bravery in this world. I knew that each and every one of them would fight to the death.

"Hey, Fido. How'd you managed to get such a huge force in such a short time?" I whispered to the green centaur.

Fido looked back at the troops that he had gathered. "A lot of us knew that we would be rebelling against the king shortly after destroying Boneheimer. It was just a matter of getting rid of the bigger threat first."

I nodded in understanding, although the gesture was probably lost in the darkened sky. Off in the distance, the sky was just beginning to lighten, signaling that it was time to attack. I unsheathed my sword, holding the weapon high up in the air for everyone to see. "Charge!" I screamed out.

The forest came to life as thousands of creatures stormed out of the foliage and towards the castle. Up on the ramparts, the guards hardly had time to call out a warning before they were bombarded with a blanket of arrows. The front gate of the castle was quickly raised, but not before a few hundred of the faster runners had managed to get inside.

Battle cries and falling bodies could be heard from inside the castle walls. It wasn't long before the gate fell back down and the remainder of the force stormed into the castle. As we had planned, about half of the troops started to descend into the underground tunnels, while the remainder of us ravaged through the town. Strangely enough, we met with little resistance and no civilians whatsoever.

Our goal for the attack was to head straight for the largest building in town which served as the main castle. That was where Kas was, most likely. We arrived at the base of the building, and upon seeing that there were only two guards out front, I charged forward. I managed to smash my way past the two men, wildly hacking away at them. I was inside the building, but I stopped when I didn't hear any footsteps follow me inside.

I returned to the door to see what had stopped my forces and was shocked at what I saw. At first I thought that it was only a minor surprise counter-attack, but then I realized the truth. Every one of Fido's recruited soldiers had turned against my friends and the former forces of Boneheimer. Wesley was already dead, Jillian was dying, and everyone else was trying their hardest to stay alive. I tried to rush in to help them, but there was something blocking my way. Another invisible barrier, just like the one Boneheimer had used against me.

All I could do was watch helplessly as first Tagorus fell, followed soon by both Ashley and Joey. Sparks flew up into the air to escape the battle, but was soon quickly shot down with an arrow from Fido's own bow. Deanna had a magic shield up, protecting herself and Rurik from the onslaught, but it was quickly fading. Boneheimer's old troops were taking at least a hundred men with them before they too fell under the attack.

"Fido! Why are you doing this?" Rurik demanded as the shield barely managed to hold together.

The centaur leader smirked wickedly as he approached the wavering shield. His bow was taught with an arrow pointed straight at Rurik. "I want to be on the side that wins." He explained coldly, firing the arrow the second the barrier fell.

"Deanna!" I yelled out in vain. The remaining betrayers had launched themselves upon the helpless sorcerer. "No…" I whispered, sinking to my knees. Suddenly, I was knocked back by a massive shockwave that shattered the invisible barrier.

I managed to get back up to my feet and couldn't believe what I saw. Deanna was standing in the middle of a huge circle of pure destruction. Not a single living thing remained around her. Deanna was breathing hard from the strain of whatever she had done. I rushed forward to her side, just arriving there in time to catch her as she collapsed. Deanna smiled up at me, her lips quivering, "So, that's what Wish does when you wish for safety."

"Deanna…" I began, but it was too late. Her body had become limp in my arms and her eyes became dead of all emotion. I reached over and closed her eyes, letting my tears fall onto her cheek.

"About time that she died." A familiar voice, one that I did not wish to hear again, stated. I could only hope that my hearing had played a trick on my. I raised my eyes from Deanna to look upon the familiar form that now stood at the entrance of the castle. There stood someone who I had killed once before. Boneheimer. "How? I killed you once already!" I stated in disbelief.

Boneheimer managed a smile, flexing his newly re-grown arm. The Mindflayer/Lich had returned to his full form, not having any hint of the injuries that he had sustained by my hand. "Did you forget that I am part Lich? I can regenerate and come back from the dead as long as this remains intact." Boneheimer held up a shiny little jewel that resembled… no! It was the jewel that I had retrieved off the Kobold King. Stupid Kobolds. I swear that I'll kill ever single one that I ever run into.

"So you had Fido lie to us about the purpose of the jewel so that we would retrieve it for you?" I surmised, my sword and shield held ready for battle.

My enemy laughed at my hostility. "What makes you think that you can defeat me again? I let you win that first time, just so that this little meeting would become possible."

I let out a low growl to show my anger. What was with these evil creatures developing really complicated plots to kill of people who I cared for? "Let me guess, the king isn't actually Kas. He's just a regular human who didn't like me."

"Correct." Another familiar unwanted voice commented from my left. I turned to face the speaker and had correctly assumed the identity of the new arrival. "Vecna…" I growled. I really felt like letting go of the final shred of sanity that remained in my mind and go postal on the two lich creatures.

_"Do it, Tint! Kill! Make your father proud!"_ A haunting, evil voice laughed. Nerull laughed as I turned to face him as he joined the circle of evil creatures surrounding me. _"Humansssss are ssssso guilable. They insssstatly believe everything sssssomeone like me ssssaysssss. There issssss no way I would fornicate with an elf."_

"Then, you aren't my father?" I asked in disbelief, falling off my high horse that I had created assuming that I was of full god heritage.

"No, you are just a regular human who happens to be a half god because a slut like Ehlonna finally popped out a kid." Vecna insulted.

"Hey, all of you, just shut up! I've had enough of you guys. You killed my friends, you've been using me as a pawn, and now you're insulting my mother! It's time for me to kick your asses!" I yelled out as I charged forward at Boneheimer.

I swung wildly at the mindflayer/lich but nothing was connecting with his decrepit flesh. "Surely, you cannot expect to emerge victorious? There is no way for the son of a weak goddess to defeat two gods and a creature of such immense power as myself." Boneheimer gloated. He was probably telling the truth, though, but his voice was changing. It might have been my imagination, but he was starting to sound like Joey.

Nerull couldn't stop laughing at my useless attempt to fight. _"You are too full_ ofyourself." He admonished, his voice becoming higher in pitch, resembling Ashley's voice. What the hell was going on?  
The world was beginning to fade away, leaving us in a completely black realm with no buildings or ground. "Maybe this was what happened before you died." I thought as I felt something stab through my gut. "You have become too powerful for your own good." Vecna admonished, his own voice turning into Wesley's.

Suddenly, I understood everything. The blackness faded away and I found myself sitting at a table. Across the table were Joey, Ashley, and Wesley, each with a character sheet in front of them. Spread out across the table was an assortment of dice and books. It was all just a game.

"Look, Tint. We're quitting. You're a horrible DM. You put your own character into the game, made him so powerful that even gods couldn't touch him." Wesley stated in disgust, pushing the character sheet labeled Vecna toward me. Joe and Ashley quickly agreed, handing over Boneheimer and Nerull respectively.

"Come on guys, I did what I had to do to make the game interesting for you! You didn't like playing as Jillian, Rurik, and Tagorus, so I added in your own characters for you to play. When they got killed, I gave you control of these three evil guys. Tint was only super strong so that you could actually beat everything along the way." I explained, but it was too late. My friends had gotten up from their seats and were walking out of the library where we had gathered to play our game.

I grumbled slightly as I collected up my books and dice. "Stupid, non-believers of the fantasy world. I'm never playing Dungeons and Dragons with someone who doesn't understand the game, again." I promised.

"Uhm, excuse me." A soft, delicate voice interrupted my complaints. I turned to snap at the newcomer, but found myself speechless. It was Deanna, the same beauty who I had placed into the game and based the character on. Basically, the situation in the story was pretty similar to the one in real life, except her father didn't own the game store and that she was one of the popular people and I wasn't. Now, she was here, talking to me, in a public place no less.

"Can… Can I help you with something?" I stuttered. Curse the natural reflexes of a geek when introduced to a hot chic.

Deanna smiled innocently as she approached the table. Her eyes passed over the D&D books before me, intrigued by the unknown realms that could await her. She picked up a twenty-sided die and examined it. Natural instincts of a non-player; they weren't aware that dice came with different numbers of sides. Deanna gently rolled the die along the table, watching as the tiny green object stop on twenty. "I've always been interested in learning how to play this game. Do you think that you can teach me?"

So much for my promise. I pulled out the chair next to me, offering her to sit down. Within seconds, I had a blank character sheet out and the player handbook open. Deanna took a seat as I began to explain the game, "It's simple, really. There are the players, who control the characters, and the DM, who controls the monsters and thinks up of the story. Since, I don't have a group, it might be a while before we actually start playing, but…"

Deanna cut me off, "Don't worry about other people. I have some friends who want to play also."

To make a long story short, I am now the proud DM of a group of four girls, including Deanna. I'm going to need to make this world contain a lot more females, because they keep seducing every male shopkeeper, guard, or barkeep they run across. It's working, though. We meet weekly in the library, where they can keep it a secret from the rest of the school. But in the hallways, they always refer to me as "Master". Most of the other people think that it's an insult, but I know better. Judging from the flirtation that's going on between Deanna and myself, we might not be far off from where our characters ended off.

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_A/N: I'm done! I know that some of you are going to complain that the ending was expected, but how else do you end a story like this? All characters in this story are only partially based on real life people, or are complete works of fiction based on the D&D world. Any ideas that appeared in this story that you wish to use, go right ahead. I'm just happy to provide everyone with some entertainment. Bye now!_


End file.
